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STATEMENT OF FACTS 



RELATING TO THE CLAIM OF 



ORAZIO DE ATTELLIS SANTANGELO, 



A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES, 



GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO, 



PRECEDED BY SOME EXPLANATORY REMARKS, AND 

FOLLOWED BY A SPECIFIED LIST OF THE 

ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTS. 



PRINTED BY PETER FORCE. 
1841. 



f\'v^"'^ 



p. FORCE, PRINTER, 
TENTH STREET. 



/6'7J'^> 



EXPLANATORY REMAUKS. 



My claim on the Mexican Government has been represented in 
the documents of the 2d Session of the 25th Congress of the United 
States, marked No. 3, as brought forward by an individual editing 
a newspaper at the City of Mexico, called "El Correo Atlantico;" 
keeping there, he and his wife, a school for the instruction oi young 
women ; giving in his paper some offence to the Mexican Govern- 
ment; banished; claiming an indemaificsitioa. o( one hundred thou- 
sand dollars, S^c. 

Far from me is the idea of this inscription being purposely calcu- 
lated to discredit both the claim and the claimant; but it is doubtless 
incorrect, and must be corrected. The individual spoken of never 
failed to deserve publicly or privately the title of gentleman, agreed 
upon among educated people in polite society. His school for 
young women was a " Literary Institute," nobly kept, honored with 
the confidence of the principal families of Mexico, and imparting to 
numerous pupils of both sexes a scientific and moral education, not 
inferior to any that may be obtained in the most illustrious semina- 
ries of both worlds. His '' Correo Atlantico," exclusively devoted 
to literature and commerce, and the only periodical universally 
acknowledged as worth reading in the country, never printed a 
single word about the Mexican Government or politics; all his 
writings in Mexico having constantly been directed to deserve 
Mexican gratitude. And the sum claimed is far below the redress 
justly, lawfully, and reasonably due. 

Neither shall I suspect that the little regard shown on this occa- 
sion to truth, in relation to my claim or person, is the effect of my 
being born in a foreign land. Eighteen years of residence in these 
United States without ever begging office, protection, or any favor 
whatever; thirteen years oi legal citizenship without ever approach- 



inga poll, nor intruding directly or indirectly upon political contests, 
knowing the prejudices of the mass against foreigners; and such a 
personal, domestic, and social behavior as would suffice to render 
any man morally superior to the ninety-nine hundredths of his fel- 
low-beings, must have given, I trust, at least a shadow of respect- 
ability to my name. If not, I do not complain. I constantly felt in 
my obscurity among freemen much happier than when, with the 
title of marquis, a splendid fortune, a heap of chivalric decorations 
on my breast, a superior military rank, the reputation of a distin- 
guished jurist, &c. and running from court to court, I w^as receiving 
every where flattering testimonials of esteem. I expected, on the 
contrary, to continue peacefully enjoying in this new world until 
my last breath, the blessings of retirement; and I would never have 
interrupted my silence about myself, had not the savage genius of 
two Mexican Presidents forced me to present a claim, the humilia- 
ting inscription of which, in an official document, prompts me now 
to call on it public attention. Respected or not by others, I must 
respect myself; and self-respect imposes on me the duty, and gives 
me the indisputable right, to repudiate that inscription, put in evi- 
dence the true facts, and prove that my claim is neither imaginary 
nor exaggerated. In virtue of what convention between Mexico 
and the United States, before what tribunal, and under what protec- 
tion from my own Government, I shall now have to solicit the judi- 
cial settlement of my claim, this is already known to many. The 
present statement of facts, and a future appendix to it, will 
however, if necessary, furnish elucidations of a much greater im- 
portance. 

The true nature of my claims on Mexico is pointed out by two 
legal protests, filed in my documents. They are stated therein as 
caused by two illegal and unjust banishments from. Mexico — the first 
in 1826, the second in 1835 — both against the laws of the country 
and the law of nations ; and the second also in open violation of the 
treaty existing between Mexico and the United States ; both the re- 
vengeful work of a corrupt and ruthless ministry ; both condemned 
by the whole Mexican nation itself; both in punishment of my hav- 
ing dared to defend the honor and interests of my adopted country, 
the United States, without however giving the least offence to any 
Mexican authority or person; and the wrongs are clearly specified 



to have been the loss of an only son, nineteen years old, my only 
hope and support ; unwarrantable violences to my personal liberty ; 
public outrageous attacks on my honor and good reputation from 
that Government itself; wanton and cruel exposure of my life to 
evident dangers ; and pecuniary damages to such an amount as to 
have plunged me with my family in the most distressing difficulties. 

The case is, however, a peculiar one, and requires a particular 
attention. It has no reference to commercial concerns, moral con- 
duct, or contentious matters. I have no seizures, confiscations, forced 
loans, imprisonments or fetterings to complain of, I know of no 
invoices, bills of lading, manifestoes, drafts or accounts whatever, to 
exhibit, exact, refute or discuss. I never had to do in Mexico with 
alcaldes, custom-houses, courts, governors, or other subaltern autho- 
rities, either as offender or offended. I am merely the victim of the 
stupidity of one Mexican President, and of the treacherous and base 
wickedness of another, under false political pretences ; expelled 
from Mexico by the former as a suspected person, the suspicion 
being only the effect of his distempered brain ; and by the latter, with- 
out his alleging any reason at all for it, not even a calumny — the 
cause remaining buried in his own brutal heart. 

Now, with the respect due to the word "President," indicating a 
depository of public authority^ I have only to arraign before the 
judge of the case, and before the world, two men, who wrongly in- 
vested with that authority, and trampling on all human and divine 
laws, have abused of it against private innocence, and so far descend- 
ed from their high station as to level themselves with the most das- 
tardly assaulters of the liberty, life, property and honor of honest 
and respectable people. I wish, therefore, to be understood that I 
make a distinction between the Mexican Government, properly so 
called, which I solely regard as a moral body, responsible for the re- 
dress which forms the object of my claim, and the persons of two 
ex-members of that moral body, whose conduct has given rise to the 
claim, and whose culpability, in the exercise of their official func- 
tions, must necessarily be put in evidence for the legal substantia- 
tion of the claim. 

But is there any chance of success for a private, weak, forsaken 
individual, engaged in pleading against a foreign Government, that, 
besides its own inexhaustible resources, is supported, right or wrong, 



6 

by the national pride of its people, and by that consideration, well 
or badly understood, called courtesy^ which every Government com- 
monly enjoys from foreign powers, and to which individual rights 
or interests are but too often ruthlessly immolated? Are there not 
Governments, that, rather than take the trouble of avenging a wrong 
inflicted on any of their subjects, try, in justification of their crimi- 
nal inaction, to find in him even faults which his very offender has 
not been able to imagine ? 

This is not even the worst of the disadvantages under which I 
am 'personally placed in this contest. The present Minister of Fo- 
reign Affairs in Mexico is said to be that very Camacho who signed 
the order of my banishment of 1826; his chief clerk is undoubtedly 
that very Monasterio who signed, as acting minister, my order of 
banishment of 1835; and it is precisely under the direct instructions 
of these good friends of mine that the Mexican Members of the 
Board, sitting in Washington for the adjustment of American claims 

on Mexico, are now to act as my judges Hence the necessity 

of the publication of this statement of facts, which, if of no 
avail to have justice done, will no doubt, by proving the justice of 
the claim, shelter my honor from all malicious constructions or mis- 
taken conceptions. Honor is in this instance, as it always was in 
my misfortunes, the main object of my sohcitude. 

The numerous documents relating to my claim, chronologically 
filed, as quoted by cardinal numbers in the statement of facts, are 
ready for presentation. Others, not filed, but to be presented if re- 
quired, are marked with an asterisk. But, should it be necessary 
for the refutation of some slanders, or the proper estimate of the 
outrages and losses which form the subject of the claim, to evince also 
who I was in Europe, how I lived there from the instant of my birth 
to the age of fifty, and why I removed to America, this will appear 
from authentic vouchers filed, and marked alphabetically in a sepa- 
rate volume, ready likewise for the inspection of the judge and the 
curious. 



P. S. English not being my native language, I respectfully 
solicit the indulgence of the reader. 

O. DE A. Santangelo. 



STATEMENT OF FACTS, 



MY FIRST BANISHMENT. 

Twentieth May, 1824. After a passage of forty days from Gi- 
braltar on the United States frigate " Constitution," commanded by 
the worthy Commodore Jacob Jones, I landed on the 20th of May, 
1824, in New-York. I brought with me the poor remnants of my 
fortune, saved from my political shipwrecks and proscriptions ; an 
only son seventeen years old, a few thousand ducats, some literary 
acquirements, and an untarnished personal honor. 

Twenty-first of May, 1824. Enthusiastically prepossessed in 
favor of the institutions of the United States, without knowing them 
but through vague reports, I went on the following day, 21st, to 
declare before the Marine Court of New- York my intention of be- 
coming a citizen of the United States ; and then I was required to 
renounce under oath my allegiance to all foreign power, and espe- 
cially to that of which I was a subject by birth. This appears from 
the certificate delivered to me on the occasion (1). From that moment 
I adopted the name and the signature of O. de A. Santangelo. In 
Europe I was known as Orazio de Attellis Marquis of Sant' Angelo, 
and occasionally, under Republican Governments, merely Orazio 
de Attellis. From that moment, again, by losing all rights or claims 
to foreign protection, my civil rights were placed, de jure, under 
that of the United States. I had then a country ; that where I had 
fixed my legal domicil for life, and where at the end of five years I 
was also to enjoy the political rights of an American citizen. I 
felt happy. 

Twenty-ninth of June, 1824. After having forwarded some let- 
ters of introduction ( * ), my first care was to procure a suitable 
occupation for my son Francis. I went to solicit at Bordentown the 
favors of Count de Survilliers, formerly King of Naples, who kindly 
procured for him a clerkship in the counting rooms of Messrs. Le 
Roy, Bayard & Co., through a letter, of which the following is a 
faithful translation from the French : 

"Point Breze (Bordentown), June 29th, 1824. 
''Mr. William Bayard, New-York. 

"DearSir: The Marquis ofSant'Angelode Attellis, a Neapolitan 
officer, who was formerly in my service, has been obliged to quit his 
country by political events. He has established himself in New- 
York, where he desires that I may procure him your acquaintance. 
This is what I do in recommending him to you. He earnestly wishes 



8 

you to employ bis son in your counting house, a youth of a very 
prepossessing appearance, who speaks Spanish, French, and itaUan, 
and knows the first principles of mathematics. 

'' I pray you, «&c. Your very affectionate servant, 

"Joseph Count Survilliers." (2). 

Thirtieth of September, 1824. My next care was to show my- 
self in some way useful to my adopted country. I therefore pub- 
lished, on the 30th of September, a " Prospectus for a course of 
Lectures on the Theoretical Principles of Commerce." ( * ) The 
favorable opinion given about my plan by the Atlantic Magazine 
( 3 ), the New- York American ( 3 ), New-York Statesman ( 3 ), 
and other periodicals; and the circumstance of my prospectus 
bearing, as references, the names of Herman Leroy, Esq., William 
Bayard, Jr., Peter Harmony, De Rham & Moore, John B. Lasala, 
James D. P. Ogden, Charles McEvers, G. G. & C. Howland, 
James Heard, D. Henderson, Robert Swanton, William Sampson, 
Esqrs., soon procured me more occupation than I could attend to. 
My prospect was now encouraging; and I neither was desirous of 
visiting Mexico, nor had I the slightest notion of the state of aflairs 
in that country. 

Twentieth January, 1825. — My son had already become ac- 
quainted with the English language, book-keeping, and commercial 
correspondence, when a Mexican merchant, Don Jose Alvarez y 
Sagastegui, offered him a more profitable situation in his "counting- 
house" in Guadalajara, in the Mexican States. A contract was 
accordingly stipulated between him and myself (my son being under 
age), before the notary public Anthony Rapallo, of New- York, 
under date of the 20th of January, 1825. ( * ) 

First March, 1825. — My son then asked and obtained his leave 
from Mr. Bayard, in honorable terms, dated 1st March 1825. ( 4 ) 
But it was as unadvisable for me to arrest the progress of my son 
in his career, as impossible to induce him to go a single step afar 
from me. I was therefore obliged to accompany him to Mexico, 
with the firm intention of coming back to the United States as soon 
as I should have seen him properly installed in his new employ- 
ment there. This was the only reason of my first visit to that 
country, where a little later I was to be treated by three anthropo- 
phagi called ministers, as a suspected person, insulted, banished, and 
obliged to bury my adored son, my only hope, in the bottom of the 
ocean ! 

April, 1825. — With a passport, procured by Mr. Alvarez for 
himself, his secretary, my son and myself, we landed at Tampico 
early in April 1825, where we met with a company of foreign 
engineers and other officers, arrived there from Europe, on their 
way to the Anglo-Mexican mines of Tlalpujahua, in the Mexican 
States, having at their head the Chevalier Vincent Rivafinoli, my 
countryman and old friend. This gentleman took a particular fancy 



to my son, and exacted from him his word that, in case of his be- 
coming dissatisfied with his actual situation, he would come directly 
to him in Tlalpujahua, and join his company, where he should en- 
joy the emoluments of $2,000 per annum, besides boarding, lodging, 
washing, servants, and the maintenance of one or two horses in his 
own house; the whole amounting to $3,000 yearly. 

August, 1825. — Indeed, we soon found out that Seiior Alvarez y 
Sagastegui was not the man he had bragged to be. Owing to his 
pecuniary embarrassments, we were obliged to stop nearly three 
months in Tampico, before being able to advance into the interior ; 
and on our arrival at San Luis Potosi, in July, we found that his 
"counting-house" of Guadalajara was imaginary, and that my son 
was to serve the public in a wholesale dry good store in San Luis, 
which he was neither disposed to do, nor 1 to permit. In our just 
resentment, we declared null the contract stipulated in New- York ; 
my son asked his leave, and Seiior Alvarez was obliged to give it. 
( * ) We proceeded then to the city of Mexico, where we arrived 
in August. There I stopped, and my son continued his journey to 
Tlalpujahua, thirty-seven leagues west from that capital. All the 
offers and promises of Chevalier Rivafinoli were religiously com- 
plied with. 

In Mexico I was very far from intruding at all upon the politics 
of the country, and even from protracting my stay there beyoud 
one or two months, had I not met with some persons, whose kind- 
ness caused my sojourn to be more agreeable and longer than I had 
anticipated, namely : the old Lieutenant-General Don Alejo Garcia 
Conde, brother of General Don .Tuan, who had married, in Madrid 
Luisa de Attellis, my niece ex fratre, then and still now azafata of 
the Queen of Spain; Lieutenant-General Andres Pignatelli Cer- 
chiara, my intimate acquaintance from infancy ; General Vincent 
Filisola, my countryman in the Mexican service; the Mexican 
Colonel Don Santiago Menocal, who had known me personally in 
Naples in 1815, and was indebted to me for some important ser- 
vices ; and Count Cornaro, my countryman, formerly Aid-de-Camp 
of the Viceroy Beauharnais, and my brother in arms at the cam- 
paign of Russia. 

At General Filisola's, I became personally acquainted with Gen- 
erals Guerrero, Santa Anna, Bustamante, Teran, several superior 
officers. Senator Zavala, and various clergymen of note, doctors, 
judges, lawyers, &c. Santa Anna introduced me to President Vic- 
toria, in presence of General Herrera. Through Guerrero, I made 
the acquaintance of General Bravo, his secret antagonist. Filisola 
presented me also to the Minister of War, Pedraza ; the Governor 
of the Federal District, Don Francisco Molinos del Campo ; the 
chief of the staff of the army. Marquis de Vivanco ; Tornel, pri- 
vate secretary of the President, &c. To the Minister of Justice and 
Ecclesiastic Affairs, Ramos Arispe, a priest, I was introduced by 
one of his natural sons, a captain. Zavala made me acquainted 



10 

with the Minister of the Treasury, Esteva, several savants^ and a 
great number of members of Congress. 1 never uttered a single 
word about politics, either with the above named personages or 
others. I had been favored by Chevalier Rivafinoli with a letter of 
introduction, dated 26th December, to Mr. Ward, the English Am- 
bassador in Mexico ; but having had an opportunity to make his 
acquaintance without availing of that letter, it remained in my pos- 
session (5); and although the treaty he was then negotiating 
with Mexico, was the topic of all conversations in the city, I did not 
take the least interest in it. Santa Anna, however, tried his best to 
have my private opinion about some principal political discussions 
of the day ; and Guerrero told me repeatedly, " If ever I become 
President, or commander-in-chief of an expeditionary army, you 
must be at the head of my ' Estado Mayor General,' " (General Staff.) 
I took this compliment for a jest. 

1 studied, however, the modern history of Mexico, but merely for 
my own instruction. I knew that there were, at the time, several 
secret political clubs under the specious name of masonic societies, 
some of which professed the Scottish Rite, and were composed of 
Bourbonists, Iturbidists, Centralists, &c.; and others, the Rite of 
York, and these supported exclusively the federal system. But I 
did not know that the former had declared a secret war against the 
Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at Mexico, Mr. Joel 
R. Poinsett, for having procured, from some Grand Lodge of the 
United States, the constitutional charters for the latter; wrongly de- 
ducing from this innocent fact that he was unfriendly to the Scot- 
tish party. On my part, I never belonged to any of the lodges of 
either party, nor had I any intercourse with Mr. Poinsett. Known, 
however, as an European mason, I had partaken, by a particu- 
lar invitation from Senator Zavala, as a visitor, of two masonic 
banquets; one of which was held in his own lodgings, and the other 
in the old castle of Chapultepec, outside of the gates of the city, to 
which freemasons of all rites and countiies assisted, including the 
English Minister Ward, and President Victoria himself, who drank 
this toast: " To Great Britain and the Republic of Mexico, the two 
most powerful and enlightened nations on earth." 

January^ 1826. — In this state of perfect tranquillity, and whilst 
preparing for my return to the United States, a pamphlet, by the 
Abbe De Pradt, was circulated in the beginning of January, 1826, 
entitled " Le Congres de Panama." That estimable writer had thus 
addressed to the new American Republics some wholesome advice 
about the new common law they ought to adopt, consonant with 
their new institutions, in the Congress of Panama, then in contem- 
plation, as proposed by the Columbian Dictator, Bolivar. On this 
subject of general interest for the ichole western hemisphere, I 
thought to be permitted, in a private circle at Zavala's, to make 
some observations, demonstrating that all discussions about the 
wise opinions of De Pradt, ought to be preceded by others far more 



11 

important, concerning the security of the new American Republics 
against an aggression from Spain. I developed these ideas with 
some felicity, and was warmly requested by the hearers to put them 
on paper. To this I objected, on account of my imperfect know- 
ledge of the Spanish language. Zavala, however, urged me to 
write in French, offering to translate me into Spanish. My answer 
was : " I have no objection." 

They went farther. Observing that the writings of a ti'ansient 
foreigner would inspire but little confidence, they suggested the 
propriety of my being invested with the Mexican citizenship. I 
opposed my having already solicited the citizenship of the United 
States, and sworn my subjection to their laws; and to this they re- 
plied that, as no sworn renunciations were required by the Mexican 
naturalization laws then in vigor, I could easily obtain from the 
Government of the United States the permission to accept the ho- 
norary citizenship of Mexico. 1 answered : '' If so, I will try." 

Eighteenth February, 1826. — As robberies and assassinations 
were day and night committed at that period in the streets of the 
city, and popular cries of ''death to strangers" were heard unceas- 
ingly in every corner of it, I asked permission to bear arms, as 
other foreigners did, and was required to justify the respectability of 
my person to obtain it. Messrs. Menocal ( 6 ), Pignatelli ( 7 ), and 
Filisola ( 8 ), furnished me cheerfully with honorable certificates, 
and the permission, dated 1 8th of February, 1 826, was granted, even 
to bear pistols ( 9 ), which was considered as a singular mark of 
confidence towards a foreigner. 

Fourth April, 1826. — Under the guarantee of the Constitution 
then in vigor, the laws on the freedom of the press, and the au- 
thority of many leading members of Congress, I soon formed the 
plan of a work entitled, '' The first four Discussions of the Congress 
of Panama, such as they ought to be." These discussions to be pub- 
lished separately par livraison, were : — 

1st. What is the Holy Alliance ? 

2d. Shall we have a w^ar? 

3d, What would be the plan and the means of this war against us ? 

4th. What would be our best defence ? 

The publication of the preamble to this work in the "Eagle" 
(Aguila Mexicana) of the 4th April, 1826, highly recommended by 
the editor ( * ), produced a numerous subscription. 

Eighth April, 1826.— The " Iris" of the 8th of April said: " The 
Congress of Panama, by Mr. De Pradt, has suggested to the ve- 
teran and determined Republican Orazio de Attellis Santangelo, 

the idea of writing another We have read the former 

printed, and the latter in manuscript ; and it has seemed to us to 
perceive in De Pradt, a clergyman who presents himself in the 
sanctuary of the independence of America, to eulogize with a reli- 
gious dignity the sanctity of her cause ; and in Santangelo, a gene- 
rous athlete, who rushes into the arena with the torch of truth in 



12 

one hand, and the sword in the other, determined to save the righis 
of the new world, or to bury himself with them, ( 10). 

Fifth May, 1826. — The publication of the "First Discussion of 
the Congress of Panama," took place on the 5th of May, and was 
advertised in the ''Eagle" of the 6th ( * ), whose editors said: "We 
have read with interest the first of the ' four discussions of the Con- 
gress of Panama,' and we desire the appearance of the others, as 
the work relates to matters so very interesting to us," &c. ( * ) 

The " Iris" of the same day announced the publication through 
a long editorial, saying, among other things, " We believe to please 
our readers by promising them, besides some annotations on this 
work, which, we doubt not, will form an epoch in the annals of 
free America, a succinct biography of Santangelo ; which, as he has 
found himself in many political transactions in Europe, must prove 
remarkably interesting," (10). 

Ninth May, 1826. — An encouraging occurrence took place. The 
Executive had long been invested with dictatorial powers, called in 
Mexico " facultades extraordinarias," by a congressional decree of 
the 23d of December, 1824, in virtue of which it had been autho- 
rized to expel foreigners whenever it pleased. This was a lawless 
derogation to the Constitution published on the 4th of the preceding 
month of October. Those " facultades" were now repealed by a de- 
cree of Congress of the 9th May, 1826, and foreigners had nothing 
to fear from despotism, (11). 

Tenth May, 1826.— The "Eagle," of the 10th May, published 
a communication of the private Secretary of President Victoria, 
Colonel Tornel, who, under the signature of "El Patriota," said: 
'' La obra del estimable escritor Santangelo ha sido recibida con ap- 
lanso; contiene laoticias curiosas, y sostiene principles saludables^' — 
(the work of the esteemed writer Santangelo has been received with 
applause ; it contains curious informations, and supports loholesome 
principles) — ( * ). This Tornel was afterwards one of the most 
enraged supporters of the order of my banishment ! 

Twelfth May, 1826.— The "Eagle," of the 12th May, filled up 
its columns with extracts from my " First Discussion," ( * ). 

Second June, 1826.— The '' Mercuric," of Vera Cruz, of the 2d 
June, honored me with a Spanish sonnet, whose tenor evinced the 
most exahed enthusiasm of the press in favor of my work, ( 12 ). 

Sixth June, 1 826. — It is remarkable that on the 6th of June a 
regulation was published about foreigners and passports, by Presi- 
dent Victoria, signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Camacho, 
the article 13th of which was conceived as follows: 

'' To avoid hereafter the frauds which have been usually com- 
mitted, and could still be committed, by some foreigners, M^ho, sup- 
posing themselves to be citizens of the United States of America, 
avail of the certificate of the oath taken by them in said States, as 
of a patent of citizenship, their legation has agreed to expedite no 
certificates for passports, unthout the most satisfactory evidence of 



13 

their being citizens of said Stales, and such must be the guarantee 
to be exhibited b)^ their respective Consuls to obtain the license 
spoken of in the article 6th," &c. ( * ) 

This unlawful presidential provision, to which the American 
Minister most unlawfully acceded, tended evidently to deprive all 
foreigners, bearers of the mentioned certificate of oath, of all pro- 
tection from the diplomatic and commercial agents of the United 
States in Mexico. I was precisely myself in this case ; and I have 
never been able to understand how a diplomatic agent, or the Exe- 
cutive of a country whatever, couid, motu jjroprio, destroy the civil 
rights of foreigners, through agreements not expressly authorized 
by any legislative enactment, and openly at variance with the law 
of nations. 

Eighth of June, 1826. — General Santa Anna, who was at that 
period in Xalapa, VvTote me a letter, dated the 8th of June, acknow- 
ledging the receipt of fifty copies of my ''First Discussion," adding 
to have taken measures to have them sold, and encouraging the 
continuation of the work, in the following terms: 

" The argument of the work is very good, and I have found it 
very much to my taste. Please to God that it may have the effect 
which its learned author proposes. Continue, my friend, writing 
in the same sense as far as possible, in order to awake with your 
truths and powerful arguments, certain men who sleep thoughtlessly 
and carelessly. Communicate to me what may occur. The perio- 
dical entitled " El Iris," pleases me ; it seems that its directors are 
intelligent men," ( 13 ). 

Twenty-ninth of June, 1 826. — On the 29th of June, my " Second 
Discussion" was published, and advertised in the ''Eagle" of the 
30th, ( * ). 

Thirtieth of June, 1826. — I received from Count A. Cornaro a 
note, dated 30th of June, in Italian, whose literal translation is the 
following : 

"My dear friend — Mr. Poinsett has requested me to forward to 
you the enclosed invitation ( 14 ), [that of assisting to a ball to be given 
at his lodgings on the 4th July next, to celebrate the anniversary of 
the Independence of the United States]. I stop here, because they 
have brought me the ' second part of your work,' and I like better 
to employ my time usefully in reading what you have written, than 
in making you compliments. Call me selfish, if you wish ; I per- 
mit you. Believe me, &c.," ( 15 ). 

In this '' Second Discussion" I had been obliged to treat of two im- 
portant subjects; 1st, the part which the United States ought to 
represent at the Congress of Panama, as a member of the great 
American family ; 2dly, the impropriety for the Mexican Govern- 
ment, granting in the treaty it was then negotiating with the United 
States, to the new American Republics certain sympathetic privi- 
leges highly prejudicial to the commercial interests of the United 
States, that were immensely more entitled to Mexican sympathy 



14 

than any nt\Uon in ihe world, in iliis double aspect, I employed thirty- 
four pages of my book {from p. 128 to 1G2) in advocating the princi- 
ples, views and proposals of Mr. Poinsett in the treaty in question, 
reproving the fartlality of the Mexican negotiators, as prejudicial 
to the welfare of their own country, ( 16 ). One of those negotiators 
was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Camacho, who signed afterwards 
the order of my banishment. 

The history of these negotiations, proving the correctness of my 
statements, was related three years later by Mr. Poinsett himself, 
to the Secretary of State, Mr. Van Buren, under date of the 22d of 
July, 1829, in the following terms: 

" , You are already aware that the administration of this 

country, upon my arrival here, were extremely hostile to the interests 
of the United States, and adverse to form any sort of connection with 
us. They believed, or affected to believe, that the aggrandizement, 
or even the prosperity of Mexico, was regarded by the United States 
as prejudicial to their interests, and that every thing would be done 
by us to impede or check the progress of this colossal power, lest 
its growth might destroy the sister Republic. They insisted that 
we had availed ourselves of the weakness of Spain to despoil Mexi- 
co of a valuable portion of her territory, and anticipated a triumph 
in the renewal of the negotiations on the subject of boundary. This 
became evident at the commencement of my conferences with the 
Mexican Plenipotentiaries, &c The negotia- 
tions for concluding a treaty of amity, navigation, and commerce, 
were continued, and after being brought very nearly to a conclusion, 
were brokon off by me, owing to the Mexican Plenipotentiaries 
insisting upon placiyig the new States of America upon a more 
favorable footing than the United States. This took place on the 
27th of September, 1825; and an account of the discussion will be 
found in my despatch, dated 28th September, and marked No. 22, 
&c The negotiations were not renewed un- 
til May 1826, some little time after the appointment of Don Sebastian 
Camacho to be Plenipotentiary to negotiate a treaty with England, 
These negotiations resulted in the treaty which was signed on the 
10th of July, 1826. When 1 signed that treaty, it was with a per- 
fect conviction that it would not be ratified at Washington. I was 
induced to sign it, because the Mexican Plenipotentiaries made the 
provisions which we thought objectionable a sine qua non, and I 
felt desirous that Don Sebastian Camacho should go to London, 
unshackled in the negotiations he was about to open with Mr. Can- 
ning. Mr. King had informed me that Great Britain tcould not 
object to the exception in favor of the States., which loere formerly 
Spanish Colonies, provided Mexico still desired to have such a pro- 
vision in the treaty. It was well known to me that the President 
and his cabinet did wish to insert such a provision in their treaties 
with all foreign powers, and, if not prevented by some pre-existing 
treaty, would take advantage of the disposition of Great Britain to 



15 

fix the principles in their treaty with her. I had a right to believe, 
from the private correspondence of Mr. Canning with President Vic- 
toria, and from some public papers of that gentleman, written in an 
unfriendly tone and spirit towards the United States, that he would 
gladly seize such an opportunity of preventing any treaty from 

being concluded between the two Republics In 

all former negotiations in this country, I had been shackled by the 
treaties with Great Britain. In the first treaty with that Govern- 
ment, Mexico had introduced provisions at variance with the inte- 
rests of America, and tohich occasioned the o'upture of our negotia- 
tions; and after they were renewed, the dread of introducing some 
provisions in our treaty, which might prevent them from concluding 
iheir pending negotiation with the cabinet of St. James's, threw in- 
superable obstacles in my way, and finally compelled me to conclude 
that treaty ivhich was ratified in part only by the Senate of the 
United States," &c. 

First of July ^ 1826. — The American cause in general, a senti- 
ment of justice towards the United States and their Minister Pleni- 
potentiary, and the most ardent and sincere wishes for die prosperity 
of Mexico itself, had then evidently suggested my observations in 
my "Second Discussion." I was contented with myself, and cheer- 
fully preparing the publication of the " Third Discussion." But, 
whilst the whole nation was lavishing the highest encomium on 
both the First and Second Discussions already published, three Min- 
isters, those of War, Pedraza; of Justice, Ramos Arispe ; and of 
Foreign Affairs, Camacho; suspecting, or affecting to suspect, that I 
was a masonic follower of Mr. Poinsett, a Yorkine, that is, an ob- 
stacle to their Scottish plans, and astonished at a book written by a 
foreigner^ and spreading a mass of light, which seemed to them not 
proper to keep the country in that ignorance which formed their only 
force, swore my ruin. It was easy for this trio to have their plot 
against me approved by President Guadalupe Victoria, whose insig- 
nificance was proverbial there. As to the Minister of the Treasury, 
Ignacio Esteva, he was thought to be a Yorkine. 

The perfidy of the premeditated aggression was surpassed, how- 
ever, by the cowardice, or rather the stupidity of the means adopted 
to carry it into execution. I call the attention of the civilized world 
on this sample of the Mexican character. 

It was necessary for those honorable members of the cabinet, or 
cabinet-makers, that I should be kidnapped, as it were, from the city, 
without affording any time to unwelcome oppositions. A leltre de 
cachet, ordering me out of the city within twenty-four hours, to be inti- 
)nated at an hour when all the population was asleep ; by a person of 
high authority and of the utmost confidence ; on a Sunday, when the 
printing offices were closed ; and supported immediately by the Ga- 
zette of the Goveriunent, through calumnious invectives and specious 
reasonings, calculated to silence or paralyze public talk or censure, 
&c., this was the chef d^ ceuvre of their policy. Accordingly, on the 



16 

night of Saturday, the 1st of July, at half past eleven o'clock, whilst I 
was about going to bed, some one knocked at my door. Who is 
there? A deep sepulchral voice answered: ^^ Soy yo, Senor mar- 
qucs, he de hablar con UsteclP (It is I, marquis, I must speak 
with you.) — I knew the voice; it was that of the Governor of the 
Federal district, Don Francisco Molinos del Campo. With some 
surprise, much curiosity, and no sad presentiment, I opened the door, 
and the Governor, closely enveloped in a large Spanish cloak (it 
was the month of July), after having courteously shook hands with 
me, and asked how I was, seated himself gravely near my desk, 
and engaged in the following dialogue : 

Governor — I am your friend; I esteem and respect you; but I 
am also the servant of the supreme Government, and I must com- 
ply with the painful duty of reading to you this official note, which 
I have just received from the State Department (he then calmly un- 
folded a paper and read : " By order of the most excellent President 
of the Republic, you will forthwith repair personally to the lodg- 
ings of the foreigner O. de A. Santangelo, and enjoin him to leave 
the city within twenty-four hours, and proceed under an escort of 
cavalry to Vera Cruz, there to embark for foreign parts, por sospe- 
choso (as a suspected person. — Signed, Camacho.") 

Myself- — (striking a powerful blow with my fist on my desk) — I 
sospechoso ! I swear, Sir, that your most excellent President is a 
vile impostor towards me, and an infamous traitor to his own coun- 
try- 

Governor — Peace, my friend, every thing can be satisfactorily 

adjusted. 

Myself— Never, Sir. Sospechoso ! This is an incurable wound 
to my honor. 

Governor — I put my purse at your disposal ; but you must leave 
to-morrow (Sunday). 

Myself— Do you arrest me. Sir ? 

Governor — No, Sir, you are perfectly free. 

Myself — Why do you not seize my papers? A sospechoso might 
have criminal correspondences. 

Governor — I am not directed to perform such an operation. 

Myself — You are the chief of the police of this District ; can you 
say that I am sospechoso ? 

Governor — I know nothing but the contents of the note which I 
have just read to you. 

Myself — Can I have a copy of it ? 

Governor — No, Sir, you will receive your passport, that is enough. 

Myself — Is my fate irrevocable? 

Governor — 1 believe so. 

Myself — (rising up in a rage) — If so, let the most excellent Pre- 
sident know that it is my own irrevocable will and pleasure, rather 
to fall, sword in hand, pierced by his bayonets, than leave the city 
without having with mc my son from the mines of Tlalpujahua, 



17 

wliom I shall not abandon within the grasp of a tyrant who treats 
his father as an enemy. 

Governor — (disconcerted) — Draw up a petition, my friend, I shall 
send it immediately to the Minister Camacho. 

Myself — (I wrote) — '' 1 receive the order which has just been 
communicated to me. Glorious at my conduct, I shall also have the 
glory of obeying the Supreme Government. I demand to have 
with me my son, who is an officer in the mining company of Tlal- 
pujahua. I demand the necessary means for my voyage; and if I 
am permitted to ask justice, I demand a close confinement, a rigor- 
ous process, a legal defence. I protest against a violence without 
example. I invoke the Constitution, the laws in vigor, the rights 
of hospitahty. I present to the Government my respects. — Santan- 

GELO." ( * ) 

Governor — (receiving seriously the paper) — Well, courage, my 
friend, our Government is humane, and I will try to do my best in 
your favor Good night." ( * ) 

NoTA. — The original order of that banishment is one of the docu- 
ments which I have demanded on the 16th January, of the present 
year 1841, from the Mexican Government, through our State De- 
partment, in virtue of the article 4th of the Convention of the 11th 
April, 1839 ; which demand was rejected by the Board under said 
Convention, in its sitting of the 3d of the following February, 1841, 
by two Mexican nays against two American ayes ! This impu- 
dent, despotic violation of the treaty, formally denounced to the Pre- 
sident of the United States and to the public, has not been taken 
notice of The order of banishment in question must therefore be 
considered as present, filed amongst my other documents, and con- 
ceived in the same words as I have stated above. 

Second of July, 1826. — On being left alone, feelings of the bit- 
terest nature, and impulses as violent as Vesuvian eruptions assailed 
me at once, and caused me to fall almost senseless on my bed. 
Soon after I arose as if moved by an irresistible spring, and dragged 
by an invisible force, I went out to go and pour my griefs into the 
bosom of friendship. I fled to the house of my excellent country- 
men Count Linati and Colonel Galli, at a hundred steps from mine, 
and caused them to leave their beds. 

It is as unnecessary here to describe the excitement produced by 
my recitals in those two honest hearts, as it would be impossible to 
give an adequate idea of it. They offered their services, their purse, 
their blood. One of them read the decree of the 9th May, by which 
the Executive had been deprived of the dictatorial powers, and 
cursed Victoria. The other saw me indignantly deprived of all 
protection from the Government of the United States, by the agree- 
ment of its Minister quoted in the article 13th of the regulation 
{reglamento) of the 6th of June, and cursed Poinsett. Both, from the 
fact of the '' Gaceta del Gobierno" not having appeared on the pre- 
ceding Saturday as usual, inferred that some assault was contained 
3 



18 

in it ao"ainst my pt-rson, to be published after my leavinii the city — 
both again offered to hide me somewhere until 1 could have my son 
from the mines. 

At daybreak, Sunday morning, 2d of July, we separated and 
went in various directions, to inform of the event the leading patriots 
of the city 

At nine o'clock, I was at home loading my double-barrel musket 
and pistols ; when crowds of persons, known and unknown to me, 
began to rush into my rooms, questioning me, pitying me, charging 
with imprecations the Government, offering assistance, &c. Amongst 
them I saw three editors, three priests, five ladies, several lawyers, 
a General, many Englishmen, Frenchmen, Italians, som.e Ameri- 
cans, and other foreigners, all frightened at the despotism displayed 
by the Ministry, and a large number of Mexican officers of all 
grades, swearing to put to the sword {pasar a cuchillo) all the 
Escoceses of the city. I heard from some of them that a Colonel 
of cavalry of Toluca had just said to President Victoria, in his own 
bed room : '' Senor Victoria, with the same facility with which our 
stupid people have placed you on the presidential chair, my sabre 
will send you to preside over my sheep ; you deprive the nation of 
the only man who has ever made known to her her rights, interests, 
and dangers," &c. 

I remained thus besieged until noon, when I was summoned to 
the Governor's office, and there informed that I had been granted 
the delay of eight days to send and wait for my son. I despatched 
immediately an express. I spent the rest of the day in a kind of 
stupor, which prevented me from freely using my reason in con- 
versing with my friends. Numerous assemblies of people of all 
classes were seen in the coffee-houses, in the streets, under the por- 
ticos, loudly execrating the policy of the Government. 

The " Sun," of this day, 2d July (for it appeared every day, Sun- 
days not excepted), inserted a communication signed '' El ojo alerta," 
singularly coinciding with the occurrences of the day. It attacked 
at once, most indecently, Mr. Valdes, editor of the ''Eagle," Mr. 
Poinsett, and Commodore David Porter, admitted into the Mexican 
service. It said: "As Mr. Poinsett is entitled to no vulgar re- 
spects of Mr. Valdes on account of the close ties (masonry) which 
unite them, Mr. Valdes has flattered his opinions by praising the 
talents of Mr. Porter in such satisfactory terms, as if this extrangero 
(foreigner) had been impartially tried both under a scientific and 
patriotic aspect," &c. ( * ) The rest of the article deserves no notice; 
it only evinces the extent of the hostility of which Mr. Poinsett was 
most unjustly the target, and the design to infer indirectly from the 
pretended culpability of that minister, the justice of my banish- 
ment. 

Third of July, 1826. — Early in the morning of Monday, 3d of 
July I was presented with the " Gaceta del Gobierno," of Saturday 
the 1st, whose publication had been suspended so as not to takei 



19 

place until after my leaving the city; but the delay I had obtained 
of eight days, no longer permitted that suspension. The world had 
in that paper a most luminous proof of the weakness, ignorance, and 
immorality of that mock Government ; for the '' Gaceta " is paid 
there by the nation, and is the exclusive oJjUciaL organ of the Execu- 
tive. What could so cool and base a premeditation be compared to, 
but the plot of robbers to enter and plunder a bank ? Without re- 
futing a single argument of my book — without quoting a single 
word of it, the writer (the honorable Secretary of State, Camacho) 
declared my work to be written with characters very worthy of the 
editors of the " Star " and the '' Quotidian " (two French servile 
journals), and to have deserved the execration of the Mexicans (him- 
self with his worthy colleagues Pedraza and Arispe). I was desig- 
nated, in derision, as a new Solon, a Mentor, a tutor, wishing to put 
the Government at the feet of my arrogance, so daring as to inter- 
meddle in the public affairs of a country which did but too much 
by granting hospitality to an unknown man, &c. ; concluding by ex- 
citing the Government to persecute with more vigorous energy 
'' idle adventurers of unknown origin, chevaliers d'industrie, &c." 
( 17 ) Such pitiful braying scarcely drew from me a smile of con- 
tempt ; biit it set the whole thinking part of the city in a rage, and 
a hundred pens went to work. 

Fourth of July, 1826. — Another number of the " Gaceta" made 
its appearance on the following day, the 4th of July, commencing 
thus : '' Holy and wholesome was the law of Athens, which con- 
demned to death the foreigner who intermeddled in popular assem- 
blies." The rest of the editorial is so ridiculous and despicable that 
the least observation would give it an importance which it does not 
deserve. ( 18 ) Its author, a Senor Heredia, was himself a foreigner, 
a refugee from Havana, and a petty poet, who, by dint of stale flat- 
tering verses, had procured a clerkship in the State Department, 
and was consequently a tool of Camacho. 

On the same day a pamphlet was loudly announced in all the 
streets of the city, under this title: "Si a Santangelo destierran, no 
hayjusticia en la tierra" — (If Santangelo is banished, there is no 
justice on earth) — it was signed " El Pensador," a much esteemed 
public writer. The Government was therein accused of ferocity, 
falsehood, ignorance, and despotism. ( * ) 

On my part, I sent a petition to the President, representing that, 
having been apprized by its " Gaceta," that my "Second Discussion 
of the Congress of Panama" was the only cause of my banishment, 
I solicited either my complete liberty, or a trial before a competent 
tribunal. ( 19 ) 

At the same time I sent a " Memorial " to the Council of the 
Supreme Government (Consejo del Supremo Gobierno), imploring 
its official action in the case. That Council was a body of twelve 
Senators, destined by the Constitution to maintain its observance 
during the recess of Congress, under the presidency of the Vice 



20 

President o( tht? Union. 'I'liis wns, at that prriod, Tif nfial Bravo, 
the Chief of the Escocescs. I reprfstntt'd, in snbstnnce. that I Avas 
utterly ignorant of the motives for whirh the Constitution and laws 
then in vigor, and the duties of hospitality, were at once violated by 
an order which attacked my personal liberty, blackened my honor, 
and exposed my life to evident dangers; that the measure in ques- 
tion being an open violation ol the ajticle 1 12 of the Constitution, I 
had a legal action to reclaim the responsibility of evpvy iniractor of 
that supreme law ; that there being a tribunal to judge of evejy 
abuse of the liberty of the press, I had a right to a trial upon my 
writings and my outraged honor; and 1 concluded thus: 

''My position, Senores Counsellors, is extremely difficult. After 
having defended during thirty-four years without interruption, the 
cause of liberty in Europe, compelled to seek an asylum in Ame- 
rica, I am favored by a Republican American Government with 
the stigma of sospechoso, to cause the doors of all other American 
republics to be closed to me, and thus throw me again into the grasp 
of the European allied powers to be dragged to the scaffold." ( * ) 

I went in the evening of this day, 4th of July, to the ball, to which 
1 had been politely invited by the Minister Poinsett. I there met 
face to face with the priest Minister of Justice, Ramos Arispe, one of 
my devout persecutors, whom I addressed in the following terms : 
" Obliged to leave, sir, in a few days for the United States, 1 would 
be happy to be honored with your commands for that quarter." 
The priest, who had always treated me before with cordiality, took 
offence at this compliment, assumed a grotesque gravity, and told 
me, in presence of the English Consul, Mr. O' Gorman, and the 
editor of the " Eagle," Mr. Valdes : " Do you not knoM', sir, that all 
Governments can do with strangers what they please ?" " Pardon, 
sir," I then replied, '' I had imagined to address my compliments to a 
Talleyrand, and I see that I have spoken to a load." The priest, 
dismayed, immediately retired home — I went to take an ice-cream. 
This event caused some gay remarks in the city, not very honorable 
for the honorable Minister. 

Fifth of July, 1826. — Early in the morning of the 5th July, a 
pamphlet was cried about the streets, under this title : '' Grito contra 
la Inhumanidad del Gobierno," — (A Cry against the Inhumanity of 
the Government,) — signed by the Senator Jos^ Maria Alpuche ^ 
Infante, and overloading the Government, its '' Gaceta," and its 
ministers with infamy. ( * ) 

The " Sun," the organ of the Scottish party, published a commu- 
nication from the learned pen of Lorenzo de Zavala, actual Presi- 
dent of the Senate, and the translator of my work, under the name 
of "El Procurador de la Nacion " (the Attorney of the Nation), be- 
ginning thus: 

'' It is difficult to imagine any step more extravagant than that at- 
tempted on the night of from the 1st to the 2d instant, against Mr. 
O. de A. Santangelo, considered both under the aspect of justice and 



21 

policy . . . . " He then enumerated all the damages which were 
caused me by the measure ; fully proved its injustice ; proclaimed 
that 1 had deserved the title of Mexican citizen; denied in the Exe- 
cutive the right of expelling foreigners; showed all the evils which 
the nation might expect from such despotism, and concluded : " This 
Government is always asleep, and only awakes to do mischief" ( 20 ) 

On the evening of this same day, I saw my son coming from the 
mines, and bringing with him the acceptation of his resignation in 
honorable terms, from his ciiief the Chev. Rivafinoli. (2i ) He 
threw himself into my arms, and bathed my bosom with his tears .... 
Alas ! he surmised his horrible fate ! . . . . His ardent soul, his point 
of honor, his filial love, his indomitable courage, would soon have 
prostrated at his feet one or more of our dastardly oppressors, had I 
not used all my authority to control his noble transports. 

Sixth of July ^ 1826. — The necessity of neutralizing public indig- 
nation, which was at every instant growing threatening, suggested 
to the ministerial trinity the propriety of having my work tried by 
the Jury of the Press, which is there composed of nine jurors. They 
could not imagine that the interest of a helpless foreigner could have 
with those citizens more weight than the honor of their ovi^n Govern- 
ment. But never did a tyrannical power make a more complete 
and shameful failure. Blinded by rage and remorse, they had not 
been able to perceive the danger of that measure in a moment when 
the excitement was general, and nearly bursting into an open tu- 
mult. The jury having assembled to examine my book, denounced 
by somebody as subversive of the liberty of the land, unanimously 
absolved it, declaring that there was no room for prosecution. 
Signed : Jose Crespo, Lie. Jose Maria Casasola, Francisco Giles, 
Manuel MenesfS, Alexandro Vaides, Lie. Ramon de la Pesa, Mar- 
tin Riveraf Francisco Montes de Oca, Catalino de Orta. 
Col. Rafael Alarid, Alcalde, 
JosE Anduade, Clerk. 

This sentence gave a new vigor to the exasperation of the patriots, 
but did not discourage the Government. 

Seventh of July, 1826. — Goveraor F. Molinos transcribed to me, 
under date of the 7th July, the answer returned by the President, 
under the same date, to the petition I had addressed to him, dated 
the 4th, soliciting a trial. The answer was this : 

" Let the orders of the 1st and 2d instant be carried into effect." 
But the choice of the point where I was to embark was generously 

left to me. ( 23 ) This concession was a necessity And, 

although not satisfactory enough to the people, yet it was also per- 
fidiously revoked after my leaving the city, as we shall soon see. 

Before my receiving said ukase, I had addressed to the President 
a new petition, stating that, had the suspicions alleged against me 
not vanished in presence of the u/ianiinous sentence rendered by the 
"jury of the press" in my favor, aoJ should other suspicions exist 
prejudicial to my liberty, life, properly, and honor, I demanded to 



(22 



22 

be imprisoned, tried and regularly defended before any other com- 
petent tribunal. (24) To this I received, of course, no answer. Power 
in vulgar hands never answers when wrong ; it only oppresses. I 
had now the choice of the place of my embarking, the Government 
having offered to defray the expense of my journey. I then chose 
to go to Guatemala. 

Eighth of July ^ 1826. — Lieutenant-General Pignatelli, furiously 
indignant at the insults with which the Government had overload- 
ed me, through its '' Gaceta" of the 1st and 4th of this month, cam.e 
out in the '' Iris" of the 8th, giving under his own name to the 
public, the following: 

" I shall not examine whether the laws now in vigor in this 
country authorize the Government to treat foreigners like the He- 
lotes of Sparta. Nor shall I discuss whether the ' Second Discussion 
of the Congress of Panama,- written by Seiior Santangelo, in French, 
and translated by the Mexican Senator Zavala, into Spanish, can 
be otherwise interpreted than as a mastei'piece of wisdom, of poli- 
tics, and of a true American patriotism, as is attested by all those 
who have read it, and have no interest in praising or discrediting 
its author. Neither, in a word, shall I permit myself to inquire 
whether a foreigner has or not, in Mexico, the right of speaking of 
Mexico, and of the world, when no law forbids his moving at plea- 
sure his tongue or pen, and no citizen has the right of ordering or 
forbidding what the laws neither forbid nor order; but I will and 
can say that an official Journal or Gazette of the Government, as 
it styles itself, and writers who, sheltered under the double title of 
organs of the Government and directors of public opinion, dare 
shamelessly to falsify some facts, dream of others which do not ex- 
ist, and disgorge at random insults, lies and calumnies with the lan- 
guage of a prostitute {mugercilla de barrio), and with fhe reason- 
ings of a madman — such a journal, and such writers ought to attract 
the attention of a Government that truly loves its own honor, and 
that of its country towards strangers, and the education and internal 
tranquillity of the people that trusted it with their destinies. General 
Filisola and myself being the only countrymen [as Neapolitans] 
of Mr. Santangelo residing in Mexico, it belongs solely to us to 
declare to the editor or editors of the " Gaceta del Supremo Go- 
bierno" of the Mexican federation, that in the numbers 28 and 29 
of their periodical, they have belied truth, and exhibited an evident 
proof of their pen being actuated by the most vulgar and, criminal 
passions. I do declare therefore, on my part, to Mexico and the 
universe, that I know intimately, from his infancy, Mr. Santangelo, 
his parents, his family, his circumstances, and I have continued to 
know afterwards very particularly, his talents, his public services, and 
his whole life." 

(Here General Pignatelli gives a biographical sketch of my life, 
although with some inexactness), concluding thus : 

'• In short, ten campaigns, two [he ought to say three] wounds, 



23 

five imprisonments, two capital sentences, the voluntary abandon of 
titles of nobility, rich revenues, chivalric decorations (cruces) won 
in the field of battle, honorable mention made of him in the official 
bulletins of several armies, literary and political productions of the 
highest interest, the fulfilment of commissions of the greatest difti- 
culty, bold and glorious enterprises, aggregation of his name to 
several scientific societies, known, cherished and respected in all 
Italy — behold a slight description of the arguments which have in- 
duced the editors of the Mexican Gazette to lavish on him the titles 
of sluggard, adventurer, of unkyioion origin, and chevalier d'iit- 
dustrie. Not many days have elapsed since the death of General 
Garcia Conde, brother of General Don Juan, whose wife is Louisa 
de Attellis, niece of Seiior Santangelo," &c., &c., &c. 

(Signed) Andres Pignatelli Cerchiara, 

Ex- Lieutenant General in the Neapolitan service, undei 
King Murat, and Mexica,n citizen " ( 25 ) 

The efl^ect produced by this lesson to the Mexican Ministry and 
their '' Gaceta," was such as ought to be expected from low men, 
destitute of honor, incapable of noble feelings, knowing no other 
road to fame and glory but criminal and cowardly abuse of physi- 
cal force, to suffocate the dying groans of oppressed innocence. My 
passport was signed on this very day, 8th of July! ! ! 

Ninth of July, 1826. — I received in the morning of the 9th of 
July my passport, signed the preceding day, 8th, by Camacho ( 26 ), 
with an official note of the Governor Molmos. ( 27 ) On the pass- 
port was stamped the order of quitting the territory of the Repub~ 
lie within the terra prescribed, to go to " Centro- America," with my 
son, equipage, effects, &c., with obligation '' to present myself to the 
authorities on the transit." No escort was spoken of in it. 

On this same day a ''Second Cry against the Inhumanity of the 
Government," (Segundo Grito contra la Inhumanidaddel Gobierno), 
by Senator Alpuiche, was vociferated and freely distributed in the 
city. The noble author openly declared the conduct of the Govern- 
ment, in the person of the Secretary of State, Camacho, to be criminal. 
He proved that they had trampled upon the article 1 12 of the Con- 
stitution; and that, had they perceived any doubtful expression la 
it, they had violated the article 64, which says: " For the interpreta- 
tion, modification, or repeal of the laws and decrees, the same re- 
quisites shall be observed as required for their formation." He re- 
proached the Executive with haviug usurped the judicial power, by 
attacking the liberty of the press, and the competency of the ''jury," 
by judging of my work : thus trampling on the article 9th of the 
constituent act, which, iu speaking of the legislative, executive, and 
judicial powers, says : " Two or more of these powers shall never 
be united in one person ;" and this even when the "jury" had al- 
ready absolved the work of Santangelo ; and the cause of the latter 
ams pending before the Council of the Supreme Government ; re- 
proaching nominally the Minister Ramos Arispe with having said 



24 

in his presence in the Senate, tliat, ui spile of said council, Sanlan- 
gelo should leave; and also with having insulted the latter at the 
ball given by Mr. Poinsett, the JVlinister of the United States, whh- 
out respecting the house and the distinguished assemblage, only be- 
cause the unfortunate Santangelo, filled with terror and urbanity, 
would give him some satisfactory explanations," &c. ( * ) The 
body of this pamphlet was followed by some annotations (notes), in 
the first of which he said: '' Only two persons in the whole district 
have approved of the conduct of the Government; an ofiicer called 
Basadre, whose odd opinions can neither favor nor offend the laws, 
&c., and the priest Don Pablo Llave, Ex-Minister of Justice, who, 
in speaking with the President about Santangelo, had said to him: 
" The fault is yours for having permitted and tolerated those secret 
meetings and societies, from which only sprung persecutions against 
the C4overnment," &c. The latter sentence confirms the fact of my 
having been taken for a Yorkine. 

My departure, which was to have taken place this day, 9th of 
July, was suspended on account of my having been taken ill with 
a violent fever, and I had been copiously bled. 

I sent, however, under this same date, to the "jury" of the press, 
a formal accusation against the editors of the " Gaceta" of the Go- 
vernment. The jury was convoked for the next day. 

A pamphlet appeared also on this very day, under this title: " ^En 
donde estamos? 2,En Mejico 6 en Constantinopla ?" (Where are 
we? In Mexico or Constantinople?) signed by the " Historiador de 
las Locuras," (the Historian of Follies), in which ihe greatest part 
of the proceedings of the past days were recapitulated, commencing 
Worn ih.e nocturnal v'lsii made to me by the Governor of the District. 

Tenth of July, 1826. — The "jury" assembled for the revision of 
the '• Gaceta" of the 1st and 4th July, denounced by me as calum- 
nious and injurious to my person, " after having attentively and 
soundly read and examined it, declared, by eight votes against one, 
that there was room for the institution of a process. Signed — Mar- 
tin Rivera, Luis Bonifacio de Escobar, Doctor Manuel Ramirez^ 
Jose Zapata, Pedro de la Vega, Manuel Plnson, Juan Nepomu- 
ceno del Campillo Quintero, Joaquin Canales, Estanislao de la 
Cuesta. Signed — Jose Andrade, Clerk, &g. ( 28 ) 

On the same day I had to admire the generous patriotism of two 
foreigners. Mr. Juan de Dios Mayorga, Minister Plenipotentiary of 
the Republic of Centro-America, on learning that 1 had resolved to 
go to Guatemala, called on me and politely handed me an official 
letter of recommendation to Mr. Juan Francisco Soza, Minister of 
Foreign Affairs of that Republic. ( 29 ) This letter alone, coming 
from a high diplomatic agent, was sufficient to cause all my ene- 
mies to blush. But among all ignorant people, a stubbornness as 
ruthless as ridiculous is always mistaken for " firmness of cha- 
racter." 

The French Baron de Pcrdreauvillc, actually a citizen of the 



25 

United States, an illustrious scholar, with whom I was not then 
acquainted, spread all over the city a learned pamphlet, entitled, 
"Santangelo Vengado contra la Gaceta del Gobierno," (Santangelo 
Revenged against the Government's Gazette). To give here an 
extract of this production would be to injure its merit. 1 shall pro- 
duce a copy of it if required. ( * ) 

Eleventh of July, 1826. — At nine o'clock, in the morning of the 
1 Ith of July, I received an official communication from the Go- 
vernor, in the following terms: 

" Through the Lieutenant-Colonel, citizen Raphael Martinez, I 
forward to you, in the name of the Government, one hmidred doU 
lars, as a help for the expenses of your journey." ( 30 ) 

I answered : 

" I have received from the citizen Raphael Martinez, by order of 
the citizen Governor Molinos, of this date, and in the name of the 
Government, the sum oi one hundred dollars, on account of the ex- 
penses of my journey from Mexico to Guatemala, with five mules 
of burden, three horses, a son, a servant, 6ic., and I shall continue 
my journey as long as I shall have means to do so." ( 31 ) 

From such a liberality of the Mexican Government, it was easy 

to infer its true intentions But I was now tired of dealing 

with such people. 1 abhorred the idea of remaining any longer under 
their debasing sway. Sick, or not, I resolved to go, and was now 
packing my trunks, when two physicians, sent by the Government, 
Seilores Ruiz and Villa, came to examine the state of my health. 
One of them v^^ould feel my pulse; the other would glance at my 

tongue " Gentlemen," said I, '' when a man of honor says he 

is sick, his word must be respected. But as I am more desirous to go 
far from your masters than they can be to have me far from them, 
please to report that I am perfectly well, and shall to-morrow be 
en routed The doctors left me in a friendly way. One of them, 
on his leaving the room, told me with emotion : " Nunca debian 
tratar a Usted como lo hacen." (They never ought to treat you as 
they do.) 

Scarcely two hours had elapsed when I received another note 
from the (Governor, stating that "he had sent those two physicians 
by order of the President; and. as they had reported that 1 was in 
case of undertaking my journey, he hoped that I would start next 
day; and that he likewise expected I would acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of this order, and send him a document which evinced, in a 
legal form^ my having received one hundred dollars," &c. ( 32) I sent 
immediately the receipt of the order ; but in regard to the receipt 
in legal form of said sum, I answered, ''that the one I had delivered 
was legal enough." There are moments in this life in which the 
humblest of men can say to the most powerful and insolent Govern- 
ment: 1 'Will not. I asked, however, the permission for me, my 
son, and servant, to carry arms on our way, which was granted ( 33 ), 
notwhhstanding my being ^' sospechoso.'^ 
4 ^ 



26 

1 received, during the day, from various respectable gentlemen, 
butli natives and foreigneis, upwards of twenty letters of recom- 
mendation for personages on the road and in C4uaten)a]a, and par- 
ticularly for the President and other chiefs of that republic; but on 
account of my having been obliged, afterwards, to change direc- 
tion, those letters remained in my portfolio, and are ready for pre- 
sentation. 

In the evening, General Guerrero called on me, requesting me 
to go and take him in my coach on my leaving the city, as he de- 
sired to conduct me as far as his farm in Chalco, and keep nie there 
in his company for a couple of days. I promised to do so, and 
sent my horses and equipage under the care of mv servant. 

Twelfth of July^ 1826.— After having deposited, in the store of 
Messrs. Dick and Ackermann, opposite the Profesa, one thousand 
and one hundred copies of my -'Congress of Panama" for sale, in 
presence of General Filisola, who never abandoned me one instant 
in those awful days, I mounted in a rough hackney coach, and at 
ten o'clock in the morning of the i2th of July, 1 was with my son 
and General Guerrero outside of the gates of the city. We were 
surrounded by a dozen of friends on horseback, who accompanied 
us courteously for nearly four miles. In the afternoon, v/e reached 
Chalco. General Guerrero omitted no means to interest my grati- 
tude. At supper, he related to me all his revolutionary life, and I 
concluded that his sword had been the sine qua non of the Mexican 
Independence. In any other country, he would have received the 
honors of the apotheosis, in Mexico, he was judicially assassi- 
nated. 

Thirteenth of July, 1826. — The good General obliged me to re- 
main at his farm all the day, 13th July, in his company. I was 
sick. 

Towards sunset, we received from Mexico the ''Sun" of this day, 
in which we found a communication of Senator Alpuche, bitterly 
reproaching the poetaster Heredia, clerk in the State Department, 
with having been the author of the attack made on my person in 
the "Gaceta" of the 4th of the same month, saying, among other 
things: ''This poet, entrenched behind his office, and protected by 
the President, tramples unjustly on Seiior Santangelo, defaming and 
wounding him only to flatter the Government and applaud its con- 
duct, w^hich the 'jury' and the whole population of Mexico have 
disapproved. He endeavors to exact from others a consideration 
which he has not been willing or able to show to an, honorable and 
virtuous man, helpless and persecuted by despotism in a foreign 
land." (34) 

Fourteenth of July, 1826. — I moved for Puebla on the 14th July, 
at daybreak, laboring under a convulsive fever, and a spasmodic 
headache, scarcely able to sustain myself on the saddle. 

Fifteenth of July ^ 1826. — In the afternoon of the 15th July, I 
entered the city of Puebla, and on my arrivmg at the hotel, I went 



27 

to bed. I sent, however, forthwith, my son and servant to present 
our passport to the Governor of that State, General Calderon. who 
received, with an air somewhat morose, the information of ray being 
prevented, by my indisposition, from continuing my journey. He 
retained the passport to be rendered to us when ready to move. In 
the evening, I was waited upon by an aged Italian physician, for- 
merly a surgeon in the Spanish navy. He informed me that the 
whole city, except only the priesthood and the Governor, had been 
apprized with horror of the treatment I had received from the Mexi- 
can Government. 

I received, also, from the post office, several letters from Mexico, 

, all describing the insults which were publicly lavished on the Pre- 

' sident and his ministers, so that they had been obliged to garrison 

the palace with double guard, and two cannons pointed before its 

entrance. 

A pamphlet also came to hand, just published in Mexico, and an- 
nounced loudly in the streets under this title : " Si el Presidente sigue 
como va, comosubiobajara" — (If the President goes on as he does, 
he will as easily descend as he ascended). It was signed by " El Payo 
del Rosario," another public writer, whose pen, like that of the 
" Pensador," was as much feared by the Government, as cherished 
by all liberal citizens. It bore the indication that it was to be fol- 
lowed by other pamphlets on the same subject. ( * ) The perver- 
sity and the corruption of the ministry were therein depicted in the 
must striking colors. The author complained of the efforts which 
they were making to present the Mexicans to the world as cannibals. 
He affirmed that 1 was the victim of a timid and jealous aristocracy, 
and of the bonhomie of the President, who was thus losing the es- 
teem of the judicial order, and the love of the people; that I was 
oppressed without being permitted a defence, because they were 
afraid to hear it; that I was snatched from the bosom of the Mexi- 
can patriots, both by a domestic foe and the power of foreign diplo- 
macy, &c, " It is," said he, "of no avail to have a federal Repub- 
lic, if the security of men is only the sport of an intriguing minister, 
nor to have liberal laws if we are only to be judged by violence and 
caprice. Names do not change the substance of things; a despot 
king is the same as a despot President. What kind of Republic is 
this? which opens her doors to all nations, offers fraternity to all 
men, and has no laws for common security? Who will ever wish 
to become an inhabitant of her, even if she encloses all the riches of 
the universe, and lands more delightful than the garden of Eden? 
I would renounce all glory, were I informed that, by a capricious 
order of St. Peter, I was to go to hell after having cursed the 
devil," &c. 

Sixteenth of July, 1826. — In the afternoon of the 16th of July, I 
was honored with a visit from many officers of the garrison of 
Puebla, in uniform, headed by Colonel Amador. They expressed 
in a very lively manner their regret for the treatment I was under- 



28 

going-, and iheir indignation against a cabinet composed, as they 
said, ol' " pendtjos indecentes " (indecciit cowards). In speaking of 
the " Gaceta del Gtobierno," they said it was ''el oprobio de la na- 
cion " (opprobium of the nation). 1 did not utter a single coui- 
piaint. 

tSecentecnlh of July, 1826. — General Calderon, the Governor of 
the State, sent in the morning of the 17th July two physicians and 
his Secretary, to examine the state of my health, and was informed 
that I was not in case of leaving my room. 

Elghteentk of Juiy^ 1826. — Late in the evening, the 18th July, 
that day's " Sun" came to hand. I found in it two curious tirades. 

Isl. An editorial thus conceived: 

'' It is said that Senor Guerrero has detained at his farm Sefior O. ' 
A. Santangelo, with the object perhaps of complimenting him; but 
we do not believe that the Government v^dll by any means revoke 
the provision, in virtue of which he has to quit the territory of the 
Republic; but on the contrary, it will display the energy required 
iu the case, to carry his departure into effect." ( * ) This paper was 
the organ of the Escoceses^ and I was thought to be a Yorkvne. Its 
hostility to me was then not wonderful. But vt'hy did it preserve a 
prudent neutrality whilst I was in Mexico, and throw down its 
mask only when I was far from that city, and her gates had been 
shut to me by a bLinishment ? "Was this generous and honorable? 
For the honor of the Mexicans, let me observe here that the "Sun" 
was edited by two strangers; a Catalonian, Mr. Cotorniu, and a Co- 
lombian, Mr. Santamaria, two veritable pendejos. 

2d. A communication with this heading : '' Justiiicase el Gobier- 
no de la nota de despdtico en el procedimiento de espulsion tenido 
con el Marques de Santangelo," — (The Government justified against 
the stigma o[ despotic in its proceeding in the expulsion of the Mar- 
quis of Santangelo). The author was Carlos Maria Bustamante, 
author of a history of Mexico, in four volumes, a perpetual member 
of Congress, and a determined supporter of religious intolerance and 
the Escocescs. Nothing could be more singular than this commu- 
nication ; but, as it widely shows the absolute want of plausible rea- 
sons for my banishment, I must say two words on it. He began by 
acknowledging that '' Santangelo had evinced the greatest interest 
and the most ardent wishes for the happiness of Mexico in his 
writings, which had appeared to him to be liberal and very effi- 
cient, to warn the Mexicans against the snares of the European 

powers." But that, ''in spite of his affection and gratitude. 

for Santangelo," he had remained a spectator^ because President 
Victoria was a patriot, had lived in a cave amongst tigers and ser- 
pents, eating worms and dirt, rather than transact with the ene- 
my .... and then, that he must have had some just or convenient 
reason for banishing Santangelo .... because in all Governments 
there are secrets and mysteries, which are not to be revealed .... 
and because, if the Govenunenl be sick, phigued with ulcers, it 



29 

must be treated with kindness, instead of causing it to grow worse," 
&c., &c., &c. And, in support of such originalities, he quoted the 
Trinity, the Genesis, St. Mark, the Angel Raphnel, England, the 
Goths, Judge Battaller, Aristides, Athens, Rome, Scipio, &c. (35 ) 

The editor himself of the '' Sun," in the same number, said : 

" The Government has expelled from the territory of the repub- 
lic the extrangero Santangelo, as a sospechoso, dangerous to public 
tranquillity or security ; and this provision has given motive to some 
writers to attack the decorum of the Government with so much 
acrimony and malignity, that had they written amongst a people 
less judicious and peaceful, public tranquillity could have been com- 
promised," &c. ( * ) 

But another pamphlet of the same day, 18th July, under the 
title of: " Satisfaccion del Senador Alpuche," pulverized the silly 
sarcasms of the " Sun " against the toriters who had attacked the 
Government; and answered at the same time triumphantly a pa- 
per circulated, in an anonymous form, by the Secretary of State, 
Camacho, entitled : " Justicia dc la expulsion de Santangelo;" ( * ) 
in which stupid production the reasons of my expulsion were drawn 
from the codes of ancient Rome and Athens, without regard to the 
Mexican Constitution, and from the laws of England and other 
countries, eccentrically interpreted. The Secretary of State desired 
to show himself such as he was, and he succeeded. 

Nineteenth of July^ 1826. — The public was informed by the 
''Sun" of the IQth July, that General Herrera had been appointed 
Commandant-General of Mexico, in the stead of General Filisola, 
who had had the same destination at Valladolid ; that a change of 
ministers was spoken of; and that these measures were thought 
the only ones which could re-establish public confidence in favor of 
the Supreme Chief of the Republic, which, in the agitation of those 
days, had become problematic," &c. (36 ) All this proved the false 
position in which that unprincipled cabinet had placed itself Fili- 
sola, then Commandant-(jeneral of Mexico, because my country- 
man and friend, was sent to Valladolid, State of Michoacan, to please 
the Escoceses ; and the false report about a change of ministers was 
spread to calm the Yorkines. How miserable is a Government 
when obliged to have recourse to such means to preserve its power! 
But, if that of Mexico preserved its power, its prestige was certainly 
gone for ever. A long chain of conspiracies and revolutions sprung 
from that unpunished abuse of power, and evinced to the world the 
incapacity of self-government, under which that nation labors and 
Avill still longer labor. 

On the same day, 19th of July, I addressed a "Memorial" to 
President Victoria, representing that on my having- read again and 
again my '' Second Discussion of the Congress of Panama," I had 
found no cause for suspicion on my account; that J, was daily feel- 
ing more and more the affront of my expulsion ; that I would avoid 
the necessity of presenting the world with a defence which could 



30 

displease my enemies, wbora I desired to pardon; that a dignified 
and philanthropic Government would not think its glory and decorum 
consisted in not revoking a mistaken measure; that the appearance 
of" a pamphlt t, as I was told, entitled '' Caprichos de ia Fortuna" — 
(the Caprices of Fortune), establishing as the foundation of the 
democratico-representative Government, the principles and dogmas 
of absolute monarchical Governments, permitted me no longer to 
maintain silence; that, imperiously commanded both by my honor 
and public interest to speak, I addressed him to obtain at least tlie 
delivery of my person to a tribunal of justice, &c. ( 37 ) 

Twentieth of July, 1826. — The mail brought me, in the eve- 
ning of the 20th of July, a number of the '' Eagle," and two pam- 
phlets. 

The Eagle, of the same day, reproached the " Sun" with having- 
advanced that General Guerrero had detained me at his farm, in 
order to discredit that General, the most solid pillar of the Mexican 
institutions. ''Seiior Guerrero," added the Eagle '' went to accom- 
pany Santangelo as an act of generosity or humanity, until Rio- 
Frio, and retained him one day at his farm. This innocent conduct 
has given room to invectives against that illustrious patriot," &c. 
The " Eagle" said also that it was, as reported, the intention of the 
President to remove the Minister of the Treasury, Esteva, to save 
the nation and satisfy the general clamor^ v^hilst there was no other 
general clamor but the articles of the "Sun;" and warned the 
Mexicans against those underhand devices, exclaiming : Toujours la 
haine veille et la veriu s' endort. ( * ) 

Of the two pamphlets, the one was published by the " Pensador," 
under this title : " Oiga el Seiior Presidente verdades de un Insur- 
gente;" (Let the President hear the truth from an Insurgent.) The 
author begins by saying : 

" I shall abstain for the present from taking a part in the question 

touching the banishment of the celebrated Santangelo Say- 

incr nothing about the justice or injustice of the Government, on 
this subject, 1 shall proceed to expose some truths in general, with 
which the President must become acquainted, as they interest every 
body. Santangelo wrote, no doubt, his '' Discussions," as the editors 
of the Mercury affirm, actuated by the most exalted love for our 
country. And to what is his "Second Discussion" reduced? To 
demonstrate that the allied European powers will make us war. 
This is a truth acknowledged by every body, and I have myself 
prognosticated it. But Santangelo proposed also to show by what 
means this war shall be made to us, and by what means we ought 
to oppose it ; and this I would explain myself had I his talents," 
&c. (*) 

The other pamphlet contained the -'Report" made by the Comviit- 
tee of Infractions of the Supreme Government, on my memorial of 
the 4th July, to that legislative body, soliciting its action on the un- 
constitutional order of ray banishment. This learned report, signed 



31 

by Senators Martinez and Caiiedo, under said date of the 20th July, 
after having- refuted one by one all the allegations produced by the 
Secretary of State, Cnmacho, in support of that order, and after 
having demonstrated tliat the doctrines of Vattel, quoted by that ig- 
norant functionary, had nothing to do in the case, as they regarded 
only ambassadors and other public foreign agents, concluded that 
the President had exceeded his powers, and violated the Constitu- 
tion, which expressly forbids the President to inflict any penalty 
whatever, or deprive whomsoever of his liberty;" and pro- 
posed to the Council the following resolutions : 

1st. That the process to be instructed, conformably with the 
opinion entertained by the Council about the Government having 
exceeded its attributions in the expulsion of O. de A. Santangelo, 
shall consist of the complaint of this person, the observations of the 
Council, the note which had given room to this report, the report 
itself, and an authorized copy of the provision dictated by the Min- 
ister of Foreign Affairs against said foreigner. 

2dly. That, to this effect, the copy spoken of in the preceding 
article be demanded from the Government. 

3dly. That, for the intelligence of the Government, a testimony 
of these resolutions shall be forwarded to it. 

This report, literally and wholly translated into English, is filed 
in my documents. ( 38 ) 

NoTA. — The Council of the Supreme Government adopted^ in 
fact, by eleve7i\oies agaist one, said resolution. The dissenting vote 
was given by the President of the Council, Vice-President of the 
Republic, General Bravo, who was the Grand Commander of the 
Scottish masonry. Amongst the documents which I had asked 
from the Mexican Government, through the Secretary of State of 
the United States, and the Board of Commissioners under the Con- 
vention of the 11th April, 1839, and rejected by tu-o nays of the 
Mexican Commissioners against the two ayes of their American 
colleagues, there was a copy of the above quoted decree of the 
Council of the Mexican Supreme Government. ( * ) This unac- 
countable violation of the Convention, on the part of said Mexican 
Commissioners, must therefore cause no prejudice to my rights, and 
consequently the decree in question of that Council, a copy of which 
has been legally asked and criminally refused, is to be considered 
as certain, indubitable, present before the judge, conceived in the 
same terms as I have exposed, and filed amongst my other docu- 
ments in support of my claim. The contrary proof is at the charge 
of those who deny the fact. It is then to be held as legally proved 
that the Council of the Supreme Government of Mexico has de- 
clared my banishment, ordered on the 1st July, 1826, as an arbitrary 
act of the Mexican Government. But other incontrovertible proofs 
of it will be had in the continuation of this statement of facts. 

Twenty-first of July, 1826. — A Lieutenant of Cavalrj'-, by the 
name of Seiior Cabrera, accompanied by a Sergeant, came at ten 



32 

o'cloclc; in tlie morning, and ordered me rerhalli/, on ihe part of tlie 
Governor Calderon, " to get ready for tlie. next day, '-~J of July, to 
start under his escort, to go directly to Vera Cruz, where I was to 
be placed at the disposal of the local authorities." I observed that 
I was sick ; that 1 had my passport /or fiimleviala, and not for Vera 
Cruz; that 1 was left free to travel vlthotU an funrl; and that I 
was waiting for an answer from the Government of Mexico to a 
petition 1 had addressed to it on the. 19th of the month. 'The Lieu- 
tenant shrugged his shoulders, and replied, that he was sorry not 
to be able to answer any question, as the orders he had received, 
were positive and peremp/ori/ ; after which he retired. 

This new piece of impudent perfidy did not astonish me ; I was 
prepared for it. The one hundred dollars I had been favored with 
in Mexico, could certainly not suffice for a journey of four hundred 
and fifty leagues, as I have already observed. The hypocritical mo- 
deration of the Government in letting me leave the capital without an 
escort for a point of my oum choice, had been suggested by the necessity 
of having me out of the city without giving room to a tumult, and 
with the cool design of afterwards carrying into efTect the former 
inhuman ministerial provisions. I then patiently prepared myself 
for the consummation of the sacrifice; but sent in the evening to the 
post office the following letter : 

"To President Victoria: 

''Sir: An officer of cavalry has just communicated to me, ver- 
bally, the order from the Governor of this State, to be ready to start 
to-morrow, under his escort, for Vera Cruz. The escort is an 
arrest, and Vera Cruz is not the place of my destination. Decep- 
tion is now added to violence. A man whose rights are not respect- 
ed, and whose just and legal remonstrances are not heard, no longer 
has duties to fulfil towards his oppressors. He feels, then, morally 
superior to all persons, governments, or nations, that may have par- 
ticipated, directly or indirectly, actively or silently, to the lawless 
oppression ; and though physically exposed to fall a victim to brutal 
force, he may justly say, even to his last breath, ' I am a man : my 
oppressors, be they emperors, kings, or presidents, are nothing but 
despicable brutes.' Are you a nation, sir 7 Is the Mexican terri- 
tory your own property? Are the fundamental, common, or tran- 
sitory Mexican laws, the expression of your own will? A,re the 
judicial and legislative powers but the sport of your executive ca- 
prices? Is a ministerial lettre de cachet superior in your country 
to the verdict of a 'jury,' and to the decisions of a 'legislative coun- 
cil?' If so, Mexico is no nation; she has no government; and I 
am but an innocent unarmed passenger, assaulted hj cowardly ban- 
ditti. You delivered me a passport for Guatemala, pusillanimously 
fearing the cry of the people against your order for my going to 
Vera Cruz, and there perish from the black vomit ; but you limited 
at the same time the supply for the expenses of my transit to one 



3g 

hundred dollars, to render impossible to me a journey of four hun- 
dred and fifty leagues, through inhospitable places, with a son, a ser- 
vant, three horses, five mules, and three arrieros — a journey neither 
desired by me, nor justly commanded by you— and scarcely was I 
out of the sight of the Mexican patriots, than you have placed me 
U7ider an escort, and ordered my transportation to Vera Cruz. In- 
deed, sir, you are neither a President, nor a gentleman, nor even a 
man. But you can do what you please. Power is always right- 
but power will never abate. ' 

Santangelo. 

"PUEBLA DE LOS AngELES, 2lst JullJ, 1826. 

_ " p. S. I send a copy of this letter to a friend of mine in Mexico 
with the order to publish it in case I am assassinated on the road' 
as will probably happen. But be sure that my life will be sold 
dear. S.'> ^ 39 j 

Twenty -second of Jvly, 1826.— At eight o'clock, in the morning 
of the 22d July, the Secretary of the Governor Calderon, brought 
m^e my passport, which, on my arrival at Puebla, he had retain'ed. 
The passport was endorsed with these words : 

" The bearer of this passport has arrived in this capital on the 
15th instant, and on account of his having been sick, leaves to-day, 
22d of the same month, for Xalapa, on his way to the point of his 
destination. , _ _ . ^ 

"Jose Maria Calderon. (26) 

" Puebla, 22tZ July, 1 826." 

The cunning Governor did not say that I was to be conducted 
to Vera Cruz ; still Xalapa was on the road to that place. 

Soon after this visit, eight cavalry soldiers, headed by Lieutenant 
Cabrera, made their appearance at the door of my hotel, and the 
procession started in the midst of an immense crowd of people, 
attracted by the novelty. 

On this same day, 22d of July, was distributed in Mexico a second 
pamphlet of the " Pensador," with the same title as the first: " Let 
the President hear the Truth from an Insurgent."(*) In it the writer, 
without mentioning my name at all (I was already gone), repro- 
duced all the ideas about the actual state of the country, and all the 
apprehensions of an invasion from abroad, which I had expressed 
in my " Second Discussion " of the Congress of Panama, conclu- 
ding it by giving the Government some rude lessons. He was not 
banished ! 

Twenty-fourth of July, 1826. — I was halfway to Xalapa, when 
the chief of my escort. Lieutenant Cabrera, received from Governor 
Calderon, by express, an official communication, dated the 24th of 
July, in the following terms: 

" You are ordered to inform the foreigner A. Santangelo, that the 
Supreme Government has not thought proper to accede to the solici- 
tation which, through me, he has addressed to it [that of the 19th 
5 



34 

July] before his departure from the city [Puebla], and consequently 
it has directed that he should follow his journey without interrup- 
tion, until" he shall have gone out from the territory of the republic. 
I expect you will inform me to have, on your part, fulfilled this in- 
junction." C 40 ) 

The lieutenant was polite enough to leave this original order in 
my possession ; a new proof of the violence under which I was 
laboring. I was a true prisoner, condemned to go forcibly, and fall 
a victim to the black vomit, which was at the time dreadfully ravag- 
ing Vera Cruz. 

Twenty-sixth of July. — The generous Minister of Guatemala, 
in Mexico, Seiior Mayorga, who had favored me with a warm letter 
of recommendation to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Re- 
public of Centro-America, not knowing that I had been compelled 
to follow my journey for Vera Cruz, signed a passport for myself, 
my son Francis, and my servant Stephen Arnoldi, for the city of 
Guatemala, to spare me the humiliation of showing on the transit 
the Mexican passport with an order of banishment, and addressed it 
to me by mail. I received it later at Xalapa. ( 41 ) 

On this very day, 26th July, was given to the Council of the Su- 
preme Government, the second lecture of the Ye])ort {dictamen) pre- 
sented by Senators Martinez and Caiiedo, members of the Commit- 
tee of Infractions, and was approved. 

Twenty-ninth of July, 1826. — From Senator Alpuche I received 
a letter, whose importance requires it to be inserted in full in this 
statement of facts. It is the following: 

" Mexico, July 29th, 1826. 

"Beloved Oracio A. Santangelo: — I have given Signor 
Pignatelli a letter addressed to A. S. Doran, Intendent of the Su- 
preme Court of Justice of the Republic of Centro-America, in your 
behalf, and I believe you have received it. By the manner in which 
your expulsion is carried into effect, I see no other resource for you 
but to represent every thing directly to Congress, in order that in 
the process, notice be taken of your having obeyed executive orders 
to march, whilst sick, and under escort, until the point where you 
shall have arrived with it. A process is instituting against the 
Minister Camacho ; but he will leave for Vera Cruz in these days. 
No State has approved the conduct of the Government, and none 
but a few miserable beings have granted it the faculty of expelling 
foreigners. Your cause is that of people of good sense all over 
the Republic, and of General Congress. Time will say more. 
Honest men are on the watch, without apprehending any insult," 
«fcc. ( 42 ) 

NoTA. — The information given in this letter, that at the period of 
its date, a " process was instituting against the responsible Minister 
Camacho," is an evident proof that, at the same period, the Council 
of the Supreme Government had already issued its decree, declaring 



35 

the unconstitwtionality of my banishment, and the constitutional re- 
sponsibility of the minister who had signed the order, |l5="The Mexi- 
can Commissioners in Washington, by rejecting the legal demand 
which I had made for an authentic copy of that decree, did not ex- 
pect to see their rejection turned into a full conviction of the wrong 
of their Government. But they will be presented, by and by, with 
some authentic documents still more conclusive on this subject. 

Thirtieth of July, 1826. — In the afternoon of the 30th of July, 
I entered the city of Xalapa, and took lodgings in the hotel " La 
Sociedad^^ (The Society). There I was informed that General Santa 
Anna was in town; and, as I was extremely Aveak and sick, I sent 
my son for him. He immediately waited upon me, and, on hearing 
of the treacherous treatment I was enduring on the part of the Go- 
vernment, he went to see General Barragan, the Governor of that 
State (Vera Cruz), took his orders, and forthwith dismissed my 
escort, permitting me to remain tranquil in my bed. 

Thirty-first of July. The City of Mexico was presented with a 
pamphlet, dated 3 1 st July, under the title of " Examen of the Facul- 
ties of the Government on the Banishment of Foreigners," with this 
epigraph : 

Tu, quid ego et populus mecum desideret, audi. — Hor. Art, Poet, 

This work was signed by Juan de Dios Caiiedo, one of the Senators, 
Members of the Council of the Government, and of the Committee 
of Infractions, who had signed the report before mentioned. It is 
useless to give here a detailed idea of the merit of this production. It 
is wholly translated into English, and filed with my documents 
in the case. Suffice it to say that it unanswerably demonstrates 
both the illegality and the injustice of my banishment ; and, as to 
the decree, as already issued by the Council, and the respoiisibility 
of the Minister Camacho, who had been now appointed Minister 
Plenifoteiitiary to London, it is therein said : 

" Let it not be imagined that this pamphlet is published to alarm 
the people, and still less to discredit the President of the Republic. 
If the provisions of his Ministers render hostile sometimes, as now 
happens, public opinion and the literal tenor of our laws and Consti- 
tution; if they neutralize the sentences of the ''jury," destroying the 
reputation of the innocent, the indications against his conduct being 
insufficient to condemn him, the public will see whether in any of 
these symptoms is to be discovered the commencement of a disorder, 
which, like a cancer, ought to be cut off without delay. Let us 
conclude our observations with the hope that in our next legislative 
session, a proper satisfaction for this scmidal might be given, through 
the examen and correlative decision of the " Grand Jury," whose 
sentence must qualify it. The Council of Government, in the fulfil- 
ment of its duty, has already made suitable observations on the 
violation of the Constitution, which it has remarked in the arbitrary 
conduct lohich has been observed in the banishment of Sanlangelo. 



36 

The proceeding is clear and in good order, but we reorc t to nnnonnce 
that its resuUs will be paralyzed by the departure of the responsible 
Minister for Great Britain. The Government shall consider 
whether the desertion of a suit for cause oi responsibility, commenced 
in public and prepared in the Council, is convenient and compatible 
Avith its dignity. The accusation, which will reach London before 
the Plenipotentiary, will not prove the best title to inspire confidence, 
and the prepossession which his high mission demands," &c. ( 43 ) 
NoTA. — As a Senator, as one of the Committee of Infractions, 
and as a jurist unrivalled in Mexico, Seiior Caiiedo has, then, con- 
clusively solved all legal questions about my banishment of July, 
1 826, from that country. From it the existence of the decree of the 
Council of Government at the period of the 31st July, 18'26, is cvi- 
de.nt, and the responsibility of the Minister a res judicata. The 
iniquitous rejection, on the part of the Mexican Commissioners, of 
the demand. I had made since the 16th January of the present year, 
for a copy of that decree, has, therefore, proved a violation as wan- 
ton as useless of the Convention, under which they act, of the prin- 
ciples of justice, and of the laws of honor. I say of the laws of 
honor, for to prevent forcibly and lawlessly a party in judgment 
from availing of his own documents in support of his action, is but 
a base trick, equally unworthy of the judge and of the gentleman. 
It is nothing less than a proditory assassination. Finally the stub- 
borness of the Mexican Government in carrying into effect my ex- 
pulsion after that legislative enactment, and whilst 1 was still on the 
territory of the republic, will find no favor, I trust, in the ^nind 
of any upright man. 

First of August, 1826.— The " Oriente," of Xalapa, of the 1st 
August, announced the sale of my horses, saddles, guns, pistols, 
sabres, Spanish and French books, two hundred copies of my first 
two " Discussions of the Congress of Panama," and sundry other 
objects. ( 44 ) It is useless to say that I made a considerable loss, 
especially on my books and horses, in this hasty sale, amounting to 
not less than nine hundred dollars. 

Fifth of August, 1826. — Following the advice of Senator Alpuche 
in his letter of the 29th July, ultimo, I addressed to the Council of 
the Supreme Government a remonstrance dated the 5th of August, 
to be filed in the process instituted against the Minister there. I 
sent it through the chief of that Department, Seiior Herrero, whose 
receipt is filed in my documents. ( 45 ) 

During my stay in Xalapa two editorials appeared in the Mexi- 
can "Sun," one dated the 27th July (*), and the other the 4th 
August (*), both called impartial analysis of my two " Discussions," 
but in fact containing any thing else but analysis. I answered from 
mybedinthe " Oriente" of the 6th (*) and 13th of August, those piti- 
ful pots pourris; but I must refrain from entering into any detail 
about them, because my only object here is to claim against the 
Mexican Government, and not to satirize Mexican talents, On the 



37 

other hand, we have already seen who were the editors of that scurri- 
lous paper. 

But I had but too much to do with General Santa Anna ; and, as 
this personage, the scourge of his country, ultimately brought my mis- 
fortune to its last extremities, it becomes indispensable for me to pre- 
sent him to the judges of my claims on Mexico under his true colors. 

Utterly ignorant of his past life, and strongly prepossessed in his 
favor by his kindness to me personally, his apparent docility to my 
suggestions, and the political principles he affected to profess, I was 
easily caught in the trap. 

From my first arrival in Xalapa, until the moment of my depar- 
ture, he never failed to spend his evenings in my company, and often 
sat on my bed side until two o'clock after midnight. He had the 
art of never commencing any conversation about himself and his 
own affairs, but having previously shown, in some w'^ay or other, 
the liveliest interest for mine. As to the general welfare of his 
country, he desired liberty of worship, freedom of conscience, 
full religious tolerance, the abolition of convents of both sexes, 
&c., and a liberal public education ; the free access of foreigners 
to the country, the true sovereignty of the States, then the sport of 
military commanders appointed lay the General Government; many 
constitutional reforms, especially about elections ; the total aboli- 
tion of all Spanish codes, a regular organization of the ministry, 
the judiciarj'-, the militia, and the army; suitable colonization and 
naturalization laws ; efficient provisions for the foment of the agri- 
QU.kural, manufactural and commercial industry; the opening of 
roads .and canals, and, above all, said he repeatedly, the least inter- 
course-possible with Spaniards, v^'^hose unconquerable anti-social 
vices rendered Mexican civilization impossible. All these things, and 
others of a similar nature, caused me to feel a true friendship for 
him; and although I occasionally discovered in him much ambition, 
some inconsistency, and little scruple in lying, yet, from the opinion 
I had formed of his countrymen in general, I was convinced of his 
being the only man in the country, daring enough to commence the 
work of national regeneration. On his part, he soon perceived to 
have obtained my confidence, and did not hesitate in opening him- 
self freely to me. 

At first he indignantly condemned ray banishment, declared the 
President and his ministers to be traitors to the country, and offered 
to keep me at his hacienda (farm), where, said he, " all the bayonets 
of the world will not touch you;" but this offer he made when he 
had heard from me that I had decidedly refused a similar one made 
to me by General Guerrero. He then exacted from me the pro- 
mise of an eternal uninterrupted corresponde7ice. He engaged me 
not to go far from the United States, for the day was not distant for 
me to be deservedly repaid by Mexico for my illustrious services 
to her. Then again, entering into his own personal concerns, he 
related to me his life and feats in the shape he pleased ; he induced 



38 

mc to write for liim two long articles against his actual antagonists 
Toniel and Bocanegra (he correcting my bad Spanish), and another 
against the inertness oC the Government in the dangers which threat- 
ened at that period the political existence of the nation, giving me 
a sketch of his own ideas, which I still preserve ( * ) as a guide in 
the compilation of mine. He charged me to have his name, ex- 
ploits, and patriotism spoken of in the periodicals of the United 
States, France, England, &c., for which he left with me a large sheet 
of paper, the first three pages of which contained his biography as 
expressed in a certain memorial, and the fourth some particular ac- 
tions of his political life, of his own writing, which I likewise have 
still in my desk. ( * ) Ail other conversations were on politics, 
about which he had no other ideas but his own, the newspapers 
forming his only political bible. I was, however, pleased with his 

good inteiitions But the continuation of this statement of facts 

will show (I am ashamed of it) the facility with which I permitted 
inyself to be imposed upon by such a man. 

Seventh of August, 1826. — Before my leaving the city of Mexi- 
co, I had appointed Colonel Florencio Galli my attorney, to prose- 
cute in my name my action, admitted by the " Jury of the Press " 
on the 10th of July, against the editors of the " Gaceta del Gobier- 
no." I then received in Xalapa from him four letters on this sub- 
ject, dated 22d and 26th July, and 5th and 9th August, which will 
be presented if required ( * ). Froin them I learned that the two defa- 
matory articles of the Gaceta, dated 1st and 4th July, had been in- 
serted by two clerks of the State Department, and of course, very 
humble servants of the honorable Secretary of State Camacho, 
named Inclan and Heredia ; with this difference, however, that In- 
clan had only lent his name, the article of the 1st having been writ- 
ten by that learned and polite Secretary of State ; and the second 
had been the sublime offspring of the poet Heredia. Colonel Galli 
arraigned both before the "Alcaide primero" Serior Elizalde ; but 
Inclan, unwilling to go to jail in the stead of his master Camacho, 
did not appear ; and Heredia, assisted by Colonel Basadre, who had 
always professed to be my frie7id, made at the sitting of the 7th of 
August, this declaration: "By inserting in the ' Gaceta' of the 4th 
July an article relating to the banishment of Mr. O. de A. Santan- 
gelo, I had no intention to offend his person, name or honor." Ac- 
cording to this apologetic argument, no crime on earth ought ever 
to be punished whenever the criminal moves in his favor an inten- 
tional question, which Divinity alone can solve. In the meantime, 
Camacho started for London in quality of Minister Plenipotentiary, 
leaving his portfolio fro tempore to the chief clerk of his State 
Department, Espinosa de los Monteros. Force put me on board of 
the brig Emeline, bound to Philadelphia. Inclan, Camacho's tool, 
was not to be found. The prosecution was then suspended, and my 
honor, name and person, remained a prey to the vultures. 



39 

NoTA. — The ''Camacho" in question is said to be the 
Minister of Foreign Affairs in Mexico, under whose in- 
structions THE Mexican Commissioners are to adjust my 
CLAIM in Washington. Am I not most evidently put by 
the Convention of the 11th April, 1839, with Mexico, in 
the most atrocious, cowardly, and unholy manner, in the 

POWER of the very TIGER, FROM WHOSE CLAWS THE BLOOD OF 
MY SON IS STILL DROPPING, AND WHO IS PERSONALLY INTE- 
RESTED IN MY TOTAL DESTRUCTION? PeOPLE OF THE UnITED 

States ! this happens, among you, to one of your most de- 
voted FELLOW CITIZENS, AND YOU SUFFER IT 

Twelfth of August, 1 826. — Governor Barragan, on his having 
read in a newspaper of Vera Cruz, that an American vessel, bound 
for Philadelphia, was there ready for sea, sent me a verbal, order, 
in the morning of the 12th of August, to get ready to start next day 
for that place. He, at the same time, returned my passport, with 
an annotation under the same date, his hand and seal, conceived 
thus: 

" He continues his journey to the port of Vera Cruz, where he 
shall embark, previously presenting himself to the chief political 
authority of said place, and to the chief of the Navy Department." (26) 

On this day General Santa Anna gave me a dinner, and an order 
on his brother Colonel Santa Anna, in Vera Cruz, to pay me the 
price of the fifty copies of my " Congress of Panama," Vv^hich he 
acknowledged with his letter of the 8th June to have received to sell 
to his friends on my account. General Barragan himself wished 
to compliment me with a supper, enlivened by the musical band of 
the place. 

Thirteenth of August^ 1826. — I started early in the morning of 
the 13th of August, under an escort of four horsemen and an officer, 
which had been liberally given to me, without my having asked it, 
only to guard me against the highway robbers. ... I, with my 
son, occupied a litter ; my servant rode a hired horse ; my equipage 
charged on mules. 

Sixteenth of August^ 1826. — I entered Vera Cruz in the eve- 
ning of the 15th August, and on the 16th the American Consul Mr. 
Taylor, and Commodore D. Porter, then commander-in-chief of the 
Mexican Navy, treated me and my son to a dinner. The latter fa- 
vored me with an open letter of introduction to his lady in Wash- 
ington, which I forwarded, retaining a copy of it. ( 46 ) 

Seventeenth of August, 1826. — A patriotic dinner was given me 
by eighteen persons of very respectable appearance, all unknown to 
me, except Mr. Teurbe y Tolon, a lawyer, and Mr. Ramon Ceruti, 
the editor of the '• Mercurio," The toasts drank on this occasion, 
proved that power cannot shelter any man from infamy when not 
exercised with justice. 

I left with Mr. Ceruti one hundred copies of my " Discussions of 



40 

the Congress of Panama," to be sold on my accomit, but I never re- 
ceived a cent for them. 

I presented to Colonel Santa Anna the order of the General his 
brother, for $125 ; he retained the order, promising to acquit it next 
day, but he becaine invisible — a little swindling combined between 
those two honorable soldiers. 

Towards sunset I sent my baggage on board the brig Emeline ; 
but she was not yet ready to weigh anchor. 

Eighteenth of August^ 1826. — The Chief of the Departm.ent 
gave me a State passport, to embark with my son and servant, on 
which the Captain of the port wrote his permission for our admis- 
sion to the vessel. ( 47 ) 

In the evening I received letters from Mexico, with such infor- 
mations which would have caused any man to prefer chimney sweep- 
ing to the Mexican presidency. 

Nineteenth of Atcgitst, 1826. — Robbed of upwards of four hun- 
dred dollars in cash and effects, and abandoned by my servant, I em- 
barked with my son at nine o'clock in the morning, after having put 
into the post office a Farewell to the Mexican Patriots, addressed to 
the " Oriente," of Xalapa, for publication. ( 48 ) I found on board 
the '' Emeline" a large supply of delicacies and liquors, sent by un- 
known persons for my use. We set sail at 10, A. M. At 8 o'clock 
in the evening we were fifty miles from the port. My son would 
not take supper ; he felt unwell. 

Twentieth of August, 1826. — My son had the yellow fever. All 
the symptoms of this horrid morbus appeared at once, and the cabin 
was immediately deserted by all the passengers. No physicians, 
no bleeders, no medicines : and my unintelligible Enghsh made 
still more difficult all assistance from any soul on board. The sea 
was constantly agitated ; the heat insupportable ; the sight of the 
helpless sufferer desolating. I placed his bed on the floor in the 
cabin, he being unable to move from or to his berth. My head 
rested on his own pillow during those few moments of rest which 
I was allowed both by my mortal anguish, and my weariness in 
making vain efforts to afford him relief. The black vomit com- 
menced on the fourth day. Twice the delirious boy rushed on 
deck attempting to jump overboard, and twice I succeeded in bring- 
ing him back to his couch. Here I must stop, and reserve for some 
other occasion the horrible tale of what happened to myself from the 
moment I lost all hope for the safety of my child. He fought nearly 
nine days against his fate. 

Twenty-eighth of August. 1826. — A quarter of an hour before 
breathing his last, the victim calmly but interruptedly, uttered 
these words : " Father, I leave you alone .... who will take care 
of you 1 . , . . this is my only grief .... father .... bless me ... . 
pardon our enemies .... bless me .... " His agony began ; at 
6 o'clock in the morning he was no more .... and still he looked 
at me steadily .... 1 imagined that by blowing my breath into his 



41 

mouth, I could still obtain a sign of life .... but I fell senseless on 
the corpse, and kept it tightly embraced, until my groans induced 
somebody to come, and draw me forcibly from that posture. This 
was the first and only time in which, during my long and stormy life, 
I lost courage. Two sentences of death had made me laugh ; de- 
luges of fire on the field of battle and at the breach, had never caused 
my cheeks to grow pale; the sabre of the bravest of swordsmen had 
never pushed me back an inch ; I had celebrated in Gibraltar, in 
December, 1823, the news of the confiscation of all my property in 
Italy, with a jovial dinner to my friends ; but on the brig Emeline, 
I experienced the truth, that moral extremities always touch each 
other. At noon a rough cofiiin received the precious remains of my 
own Francis, and, filled with ballast and nailed, was trusted to the 
abyssesof the Mexican gulph; being present the Captain Robert Rae, 
the mate William Paul, and the passengers William S. Parrott, 
Adele Parrott, his wife, Louis Duclaud, a Frenchman, and Charles 
Parry, an Englishman. ( 49 ) I could not shed a tear; a tremen- 
dous palsy overspread my whole body; my tongue horribly swell- 
ed, my eyes stupid, unable to hear, see, or speak. I thought my 
last hour was quickly approaching. Next day, through Mr. Du- 
claud, I requested the Captain to have ready for me a coffin, better 
made than the one that had enclosed my unfortunate son, and I paid 
for it, after we landed, seven dollars. 1 attempted, likewise, to make 
my will, that is a letter to the Count of Survilliers, with a summary 
inventory of what I had on board, praying to have it forwarded to 
a sister of mine in Italy; but I was not strong enough for that. 
Water was my only aliment during ten days .... and, strange as it 
appears to be, my very exhaustion saved my life. No fever, no 
vomit. I was preserved for Mexican outrages of a worse charac- 
ter ! ... . To add to my misfortune, the Captain mistook his direc- 
tion, and we found ourselves near Pensacola, believing to be on the 
Tortugas, which caused our passage to last forty-four days. A 
dreadful storm, off Cape Hatteras, which lasted three days and three 
nights, threatened all on board with destruction. The death of Ma- 
dame Adele Parrott, and her burial in the waves, excited a remem- 
brance which tore my heart piecemeal. 

Third of October^ 1826. — 1 landed on the 3d October, in Phila- 
delphia. It would be out of place here to describe all my adven- 
tures in that city, and the additional damages I had to endure in 
consequence of my distracted mind. I saw no more my faithful 
friend and companion with me. I had lost an only son ; one whose 
education had cost me ten thousand ducats; whose talents, virtues, 
and acquirements, were of the highest order; whose death was 
looked upon by all those who knew him as a public loss; whose 
sole appearance was a fortune ; and whose company made me never 
feel the horrors of forced emigration. And by whom and how 
could an adequate estimate of those damages be now made, after 
the lapse of sixteen years, but by the powerful imagination of a 
6 



42 

generous and experienced connoisseur of the world, especially of 

men of a certain rank, crushed by fate on unknown shores? 

The acquaintance I had the fortune of making with Mr. Clay, on a 
steamboat, and with Messrs. Carey, Duponccau, Sergeant, Walsh, 
and other savants, in a brilliant circle, was of no avail to me; my dis- 
concerted moral faculties did not permit me to derive any comfort 
from their conversations. About my " Congress of Panama," Pre- 
sident Adams, whom I visited at the Mansion House in Philadel- 
phia, whilst he was passing through that city, assured me that he 
had laughed heartily at my having said, somewhere in that book, 
that "the Mexican Plenipotentiary, Michelena, had been in London 
only to learn how to eat roast beef." And these peculiarly conso- 
ling words of his Excellency were the only thanks I have ever re- 
ceived for all the injuries I had suffered^ for having defended the 
honor and interests of the United States, and their diplomatic agent 
in Mexico ! 

Eleventh of November^ 1826. — I shall, however, mention here, 
with gratitude, the incomparable benevolence of an English lawyer, 
Mr. John Jordan^ who had arrived at Philadelphia, from Mexico, 
some time after my landing in that city, and was of course fully 
informed of my adventures in that would-be Republic. He pub- 
lished, in the National Gazette of the 1 1th November, a " Necro- 
logy," where he gave a touching idea of my banishment, as the 
cause of the untimely end of my son, and of the excellence of his 
character, concluding thus : "But the citizens of the world are en- 
titled, in our opinion, to propose to the Mexican Government ques- 
tions of a much more serious nature, and which the limits of a 
necrological article oblige us to defer to another opportunity." ( 50) 
A copy of this "Necrology" was transmitted, under the same date 
of its publication, to Mr. Zavala, in Mexico, who acknowledged its 
exactness, as we shall see from his answer. 

Third of December, 1826. — And, in fact, Mr. Jordan published 
on the 3d of December next, a voluminous pamphlet, in which both 
the bad faith and the gross ignorance of the Mexican cabinet were 
■learnedly put in evidence, under the title of '^Serious Actual Dan- 
gers of Foreigners and Foreign Commerce in the Mexican States^ 
i^c. ( * ) I have filed amongst my documents only the " Introduc- 
tory Remarks," showing the object of the work. ( 51 ) I shall ex- 
hibit the whole pamphlet if required. ( * ) 

I owe not less expressive acknowledgments to Doctor McMeur- 
trie, an American philanthropist, who, being perfectly conversant with 
the French language, was able efficiently to pour the balsam of a 
sound philosophy in my wounded heart, and cause me to perceive 
that, by following his advice, to abandon solitary life, and procure a 
suitable consort, a powerful remedy would be applied to my incon- 
solable griefs. But let us follow the chronological order of the 
documents accompanying this statement of facts. 

Ninth of December, 1826. — The ''Mercurio," of Vera Cruz, re- 



43 

published a. letter copied from the " Correo de la Federacion," of 
Mexico, to which it had been addressed by some inhabitant of that 
city, of the following tenor : 

"Citizen Editors: By a creditable letter from Philadelphia, I 
have received news which show how indefatigable is bad fortune 
when determined to persecute an unhappy being. O. de A. San- 
tangelo, says a friend of mine, arrived here almost insane, on account 
of the death of his beloved and only son, who was accompanying 
him to his destination. He was eighteen years old, and died, after 
being ten days at sea, from the black vomit, which he had caught in 
Vera Cruz. This unfortunate and interesting youth inspired more 
hopes than many of his age. His last words expressed that he was 
sorry to die only because he left his father without assistance. In 
fact, he was the sole comfort remaining to that poor old gentle- 
man after so many calamities, which were the effect of his extra- 
ordinary love of liberty. The labors of the son were the 07ily funds 
which supported the father, whose talents are of the class of those 
which produce envy and persecution, but no money. At the unex- 
pected news of the banishment of his father, the son had abandoned 
a very advantageous situation in the Mexican Republic, to accom- 
pany, in his unhappy fate, him from whom he had received life; 
assisting, consoling, and sustaini7ig him tvith his labors and the 
sweat of his brow. The sight of this disconsolate father would 
affect the hardest heart. Absorbed in the deepest grief, his eyes 
having neither tears nor movement, he passes from the state of stu- 
por to fury and delirium, uttering the most terrible imprecations 
against his own unbridled love for liberty, which he accuses to have 

been the assassin of his idolized son, and against Here I 

must cease transcribing the letter, my only purpose being to make 
known the very sad fate of a man, who, a few months ago, called 
the attention of all the republic, abstaining from making observa- 
tions, to give no room to sinister interpretations. 

(Signed) " C. C." ( 52 ) 

Twentieth of December, 1826. — Senator Zavala, in answer to my 
letter of the Uth November, wrote me under date of the 20th De- 
cember : 

'' The news of the death of your son has already caused some 
tears to flow from those who had been intimate with his father, and 
knew that interesting youth, and has planted the dagger of remorse 
in the bosoms of those %oho co-operated in this catastrophe. An 
article had already been published in the '' Correo de la Fede- 
racion," a periodical which is edited under my direction, in which 
your misfortune was depicted with colors worthy of the event. I 
will send it to you by the first opportunity, if our friend Mr. Pigna- 
telli has not yet. done so. I have received the scrip of the gazette 
of your city, containing an exact relation of your banishment and 
sufferings. 1 believe it very a propos that you should multiply your 



44 

productions in your country, declaiming, above all, aga'msi the dull- 
nesD of Ike Mexican ministry ; an idea which 1 insinuated before 
your departure, and which I do not cast aside. 

" I am waiting for the third and fourth parts of the " Discussions 
of Panama," as well as for the power of attorney which you spoke 
of, for the despatch of your airuir. You will then freely return to 
this country, which knows how to appreciate your merit, and 
which you, on your part, will enrich with your literary produc- 
tions." &c. ( 53 ) 

January^ 1827. — With the intention of marrying, and the cer- 
tainty of receiving money from Europe, I had in those days fitted 
up in foshionable style a three-story house in 5th street, belonging 
to Mr. Gordon, a lawyer. There Mr. Tolon, whom I had lately 
seen in Vera Cruz, applied to me for hospitality (he having been 
appointed Mexican Consul in Philadelphia) whilst waiting for 
means to open an office. Always ready to evmce my gratitude to 
the Mexican patriots, 1 kept SeRor Tolon six weeks under my roof, 
at my table, and advanced him ten doubloons. From the moment 
he opened, his ofhce I saw him no more, and the doubloons were 
lost. 

Ticenty-fifth February, 1 827. — With a letter dated 25th Febru- 
ary, I sent to Senator Zavala my "power of attorney" in blank, 
authorizing him to give it to some person of his own choice, and 
explaining that the redress due to me was to be demanded from the 
Government itself, and not from the responsible Minister ; for his 
responsibility was towards his own Government, and not directly 
towards my person, the banishment having been inflicted upon me 
by order of the President, and not of the Minister. I explained, 
likewise, the reasons for which I had refrained from soliciting, in 
that occurrence, the protection of the Government of the United 
States. I informed him of the advice I had received from some of 
our friends, to limit my claim for all the outrages, injuries, and 
losses, to twenty-five or thirty thousand dollars, leaving to the gene- 
rosity of Congress to determine the indemnity due for the inesti- 
mable loss of my son ; and, finally, I asked some information about 
Mr. Tolon, and a Mexican General, Senor Cortes, who had been 
arrested for debt, &c. ( 54 ) 

Fourth of April, 1827. — The good McMeurtrie, solicitous to pro- 
cure me some distraction, advised me to open a " Literary Institute" 
for gentlemen, who would learn some languages and reside in my 
house. He then published, in the '' Democratic Press" of Phila- 
delphia, of the 4th April ( 55 ), an article which soon procured me 
a number of pupils; but I did not know then how to teach lan- 
guages, and I learned more from them in English than they did 
from me in French or Spanish. 

Twentieth of Afril. 1827. — Senator Zavala wrote me a letter, 
dated Tescoco, 20th April, informing me that he had been appointed 
Governor of the State of Mexico, and that the day was not distant in 



45 

which he, by using his influence in an infaUihle manner, would 
procure my return and happiness. He acknowledged, hkewise, the 
receipt of my "power of attorney," informing me to have substi- 
tuted to it Senator Alpuche, he residing out of Mexico, &c. And 
then, indulging in patriotic lamentations, said; "I believe that 
another generation is necessary for these people to cease from juda- 

izing so much. I never \mev<r a people so adverse to foreigners 

These gentlemen believe that foreigners come here to take their 
bread away from them," &c. And as to Tolon and Cortes, he said : 
" He (Tolon) is my friend, and is honest, although with a certain 
levity which is the characteristic of the people of his country 
( Havana) ; but his friendship is appreciable. As to Cortes, you have 
defined him exactly; he is known for such in the country." ( 56 ) 

Twentieth of May, 1827. — I had not yet received the letter of the 
20th of April, from Zavala, when I wrote him another, dated 20th 
May, soliciting the receipt of the " power of attorney," and referring 
him to the instructions contained in my preceding letter. As to my 
Third and Fourth Discussions of Panama, of which he spoke to me in 
his letter of the 20th December, 1826, I gave him the reasons why I 
had determined not to publish them; saying, amongst other things, 
that Mexico should be left to herself, to run the fate of all new and 
ignorant nations, who prefer to learn rather by dint of errors and mis- 
fortunes than by precepts and advices, especially when coming from 
a foreign pen ; for ignorance and pride are inseparable, and uncon- 
querable but by education and the whip of time. ( 57 ) 

Twenty- sixth May, 1827. — Zavala's letter of the 20th April 
having now come to hand, I answered it under date of the 26th 
May, congratulating him upon his appointment of Governor of the 
State of Mexico. "What a curious contrast !" added I. '' The author of 
a book banished like a brigand, and its translator and commentator, 
the accomplice of the author, created Governor of a State! Yet, no 
jurist ever denied that, in matter of political crimes, a foreigner is 
always less punishable than a native, as a violator of fewer duties- 
and, for the same reason, a common murder was deemed to be less 

important than a parricide " With respect to the "power of 

attorney," which he said he had received and substituted to it Sena- 
tor Alpuche, I made some observations, adding that in case the cir- 
cumstances of the day did not permit Congress to pay much atten- 
tion to my claim, the Spanish party being still predominant in all 
their councils, I would wait in silence until a new Administration 
shall have changed the face of things, &c. ( 58 ) 

Twenty-first June, 1827. — To leave no room to obscurities or 
sophjsms in this statement of facts, I must relate what follows. 

I was told that a young lady, on reading the pamphlet of John 
Jordan, and other publications relating to my misfortunes, had been 
much affected by them. Curious to know her, I succeeded in beino- 
introduced, and a reciprocal geniality soon united our hearts. The 
necessity of having a companion, the desire of giving new proofs 



46 

of attachment to my adopted country by marrying a native, and not 
expecting- now from Mexico but a kind reception in the case of my 
being obiig-cd to repair there again to have my claim settled, all 
these considerations prompted me to associate that generous soul to 
my fate. Alas ! I did not suspect that I prepared anotlier victim for 
the stupid inhumanity of another Mexican despot. This lady v\^as 
Miss Mary Houston, daughter of late James Houston, cashier of the 
United States Bank of Philadelpbia. She was then fatherless, but 
of age, and endowed with literary acquirements. The marriage was 
celebrated on the 21st June, by the Rev. McCalla, a Presbyterian 
nainister. I was the bearer of the certificate of the death of my 
first wife, which happened on the 15th June, 1822, legalized by the 
American Consul in Naples, Mr. Alexander Hammet, and in which 
it is staled that the deceased had left 07ie son under age, procreated 
with Orazio de Attellis marquis of Santangelo, absent ( J ). I was in 
Spain. This o/ie son was my Francis, killed by the Mexican Go- 
vernment in my arms; and this is also proved by the certificate of 
his birth ( F ), and that of my marriage with his mother Henrietta 
Martino, the dutchess of Pietra d' Oro. ( C ) 

Twcnty-fiflh of July, 1827. — Governor Zavala, with a letter 
dated San Agustin de las Cuevas, 25th July, acknowledged the re- 
ceipt of both mine of the 20th and 26th May, and said to me, among 
other things : 

" We are engaged now in obtaining General Guerrero for Pre- 
sident; and it is necessary that you should aid us, in every possible 
manner, in the country xohere you are. This chief has influence, 
good intentions, arid public opinion in his favor. The Solares (edi- 
tors of the Sun), and the Bourbonists continue working. Mr. Martin 
(the French agent) has joined their banners, and by this he has con- 
firmed the suspicions you had inspired of the intentions of this per- 
sonage and his Government. / earnestly desire that you will torite, 
and it will always be conveniejit that you should publish what you 
write, and tra7ismit to me all publications.''^ (59) 

Nineteenth August, 1827. — The intelligence of General Guer- 
rero being one of the candidates for the next presidency, had already 
reached me before I received the letter of Zavala ; I promised him, 
in my reply of the 19th of August, to second his honest views ; and 
entreated him at the same time to solicit in my behalf the interfe- 
rence of that General in my affair with Dick, who, said I, " seems 
determined to defraud me of $2,750, the price of one thousand and 
one hundred copies of my ' Congress of Panama.' " Finally, I in- 
formed him that I was preparing a biography of Guerrero, to have 
it published in the " Mercurio," of New-York, a good Spanish paper, 
published there by Mr. Purroy ; and that the biographies of himself, 
and of our good friend Santa Anna, would follow, &c. 

On this same day, 19th August, I wrote to General Guerrero 
about my disagreeable affair with Dick. ( 60 ) 

Tioenty-eigkth of September, 1827. — General Guerrero, having 



47 

been appointed Commandant General of the State of Vera Cruz, 
went to reside in Xalapa, where he received the foregoing letter, 
and whence he answered, under date of the 28th September, on the 
subject of Dick, the following: ''By the anterior mail, I have writ- 
ten to General Filisola [in Mexico], asking an exact information 
about all the antecedents he may have in his possession with respect 
to the commission you have given me about Dick, in order to be 
able to act with all security in the demand which I shall produce 
in your behalf, for the just, very just recovery of the sum, which I 
would advance you with pleasure, had I in this moment the neces- 
sary means ; but the excessive expenses, which I have met with on 
my arrival at this town, and those which have been the conse- 
quence of the employment of Commandant General of this State, 
deprive me of so great a satisfaction and duty," &c. ( 61 ) 

November, 1827. — My "Literary Institute" of Philadelphia had 
but a short duration. My marriage first caused its suspension ; 
and then a bill of exchange for $2,000, which I had drawn on Mr. 
Giardini, a merchant of Gibraltar, who had from Naples the order 
of putting that sum at my disposal, having been returned protested 
on account of the failure of that merchant, I accepted the offer made 
to me by an old friend of mine, the poet Lorenzo Daponte, to go and 
live in his house in New- York until a better moment; and I did 
so in November, 1827. 

January, 1828. — I then resolved to establish in New-York a 
boarding school for young ladies, under the direction of my wife. I 
was, however, too little known to flatter myself with a favorable 
success without giving the public respectable references, and this I 
could not do. Through a Professor of Mathematics in the Colum- 
bia College, Mr. Anderson, with whom I had become acquainted at 
Daponte's, I obtained the use of the chapel of said College, to give 
some public lectures there, gratis, in French, Spanish and Italian, 
on various interesting subjects. The public applauded, several pe- 
riodicals spoke favorably, I gained a name, and my establishment 
was opened towards the end of January, 1828, under propitious 
auspices. 

Twenty-sixth of May, 1828. — Under date of the 26th May, I 
wrote two letters to my relations in Naples. I directed one to the 
care of the American Consul there, Mr. Alexander Hammet, and 
the other to that of Messrs. Rogers, Brothers & Co., American 
merchants in that city. The object of these letters was to learn 
something about the failure of Mr. Giardini, the fate of the sum 
which was to have been paid to me through him, and other domes- 
tic concerns ; and to avoid all obstacles from the Neapolitan police, 
then oh the watch against all correspondences with foreign coun- 
tries, I had sent them unsealed. We shall soon see, from the an- 
swers of those gentlemen, both their shameful pusillanimity and the 
. strong reasons I had had to cross the Atlantic. 

Twenty-fifth of July, 1828. — I enclosed to the Mexican Minister 



48 

in Washington, Don Pablo Obregon, two letters, which I addressed 
under dale of 25th July, to the Mexican President Victoria, the 
one in official form, the other confidential. The former, of which 
I preserved no copy, contained the demand of his permission to pay 
a second and shoit visit to Mexico, to adjust there my affairs; the 
latter was more important. I presented that President with a full 
development of my mysterious banishment, and of the mistaken 
impressions under which he was laboring at the time, by ordering 
it in spite of the judicial and legislative authority. I proved to him 
the fact of my having been wrongly thought to be a Yorkine parti- 
san of Mr. Poinsett, and an emissary of the United States, only 
because I had made, as a mere diplomatic observer, in my " Con- 
gress of Panama," the defence of the rights of the latter, and of the 
proposals of the former in the treaty he was then negotiating with 
Mexico, &c., and, claiming against the atrocious wrongs inflicted 
on me, I asked the revocation of my banishment, and concluded: 
"Thus I put your uprighmess to the test; and from all the explana- 
tions above given to you, you will perceive that your justice towards 
me will procure for yourself a great many noble and substantial 
advantages." (62) This piece deserves the particular attention of 
the judges of my claims on Mexico. 

Twenty-eighth of July^ 1828. — The Secretary of the Mexican 
Legation in Washington, Seiior J. M. Montoya, acknowledged 
under date of 28th July, the receipt of my letter of the 25th, in 
which I enclosed the package addressed by me to President Victo- 
ria. ( 63 ) 

First of August, 1828. — I addressed, dated the 1st August, another 
confidential letter to the Mexican Minister of War, Pedraza, one of 
the three Ministers who had agreed with the President about my ex- 
pulsion ; and after having informed him of the letters I had addressed 
to that President, 1 said : 

" In this case, imitating Napoleon who went to place himself, 
like Themistocles, in the hands of his enemies, I come to put my 
cause in yours, entreating you to implore in my favor a determina- 
tion from Seiior Victoria, which might lessen the evils he has caused 
to me ; and I am confident that, should you read my confidential 
communication to him, you will not treat me as the English treated 
Napoleon." ( 64 ) 

Fifteenth of August, 1828. — Certain that Pedraza had not spirit 
enough to answer said confidential epistle of the 1st August, I wrote 
him another in official form, dated the 15th, soliciting merely his 
mediation with the President. "That I may know," said I, "in a 
positive and conclusive manner, for my own government, whether 
after so many proofs of my innocence and respectful forbearance, I 
had to hope, or not, for a passport, or a competent redress," &c. ( 65 ). 

Under this same date, of 15th of August, the American Consul in 
Naples, a truly high-minded^ generous^ prudent and djclicate Ame- 
rican agent abroad, wrote me the following ; 



49 

" Sir : The steamboat brought me from Malta your letter, dated 
New- York, the 26th last May, with the enclosures for your sisters, 
which were immediately delivered. Enclosed you will receive their 
reply. Though I have not the honor of your personal acquaint- 
ance, I would with pleasure render you or others similar favors, 
if it were in my power, without giving umbrage to the Government 
where I reside. After so many misfortunes, prudence as well as 
delicacy ought to hinder you from compromising others. You will 
therefore be pleased to excuse me from commissions in future^ having 
corresponded so far to the confidence you reposed in me. 

'' With regard, I have the honor to be your obedient servant, 

"Alexander Hammet. 
" To the Marquis Sant'Angelo, New- York." ( 66 ) 

Twentieth of August, 1 828. — And from the prudent and delicate 
Messrs. Rogers, Brothers & Co., I was favored a little later with their 
answer, dated Naples, the 20th August, in these obliging terms ; 

'' Sir : Your favor, 26th May, was duly received, and your enclo- 
sure for your sister delivered; but for circumstances we cannot ex- 
plain, we must beg you will not address your letters to our care 
henceforward. We however have promised to forward you the two 
enclosed letters, which hope will reach you safe. 

" We are, respectfully. Sir, your most obedient servants, 

"Rogers, Brothers & Co. 
Direction: "A Monsieur le Marquis de St. Angelo, New- York." (67) 

Eighteenth of September, 1828. — The Minister of War, Pedraza, 
acknowledged, officially, under date of 1 8th September, the receipt 
of my communication of the 15th August, informing me to have 
forwarded it to the Secretary of State (negocios extrangeros). ( 68 ) 

Twenty-third of September, 1828. — With another official note 
of the 23d September, Seiior Pedraza notified me that the President 
had been so good as to decree that, for the present^ my petition could 
not be granted. ( 69 ) 

Fifteenth of October, 1828. — I had not yet received the above 
notes of Pedraza, when I addressed one, dated the 15th October, to 
the Minister of the Treasury, Esteva, in which I said : '' I would 
only ask of your colleagues, what advantage have they derived for 
their country or for themselves, by exhaling against me the rage 
excited in them, right or wrong, by Mr. Poinsett. Examining my 
book, I only find that it is impossible for the same person to be at 
once a Mexican patriot and my enemy." I spoke to him, moveover, 
of the redress to which I had a right, and engaged him to make his 
colleagues understand the prudent conduct I was observing towards 
them in a country where I could revenge myself freely, and which 
ought to convince them of my respect, both for the Mexican name 
and their personal honor. ( 70 ) 

Fifth of November, 1828.— The note of Seiior Pedraza, of the 23d 
7 



50 

September, having now come to hand, 1 inJignaiillyanswered it, under 
date of the 5th November, in such terms as could not be repeated 
here without giving room to some mistaken or malignant applica- 
tions 

Twenty-ninth of November, 1828. — In the beginning of this year, 
1828, General Bravo, the chief of the Escoccses, to secure for him- 
self the next presidency, for every wood has its own smoke, had 
made a pronunciamiento in Tulancingo, demanding, sword in hand, 
the dismissal of some Yorkine fimctionaries, and the expulsion of the 
American Minister Poinsett. General Guerrero, however, defeated 
him, and made him prisoner. This victory had increased the pro- 
bability of the election of Guerrero, in preference to his rival Pedraza. 
On this account the Minister Esteva, in answer to my note of 15th 
October, told me, under date of the 29th November: 

" It seems to me that the day is approaching, in which the Mexi- 
cans, forgetting all domestic dissensions, which prevent them from 
attending to their common defence [the dangers foreseen by me were 
then not ephemeral], will be able to unite to exterminate the tyrant 
who may attempt to oppress them, and destroy their independence and 
liberty; and I shall lose sight of no occasion to derive from the Mexi- 
can Government a magnanimous demonstration of benevolence, if 
possible, in your favor." ( 71 ) 

Fourth of December, 1828. — The new elections took place. The 
majority of the State Legislature had been in favor of Pedraza ; but 
the great majority of the people was for Guerrero. Thence an appeal 
to arms; and the infernal Revolution of the 4th December, 1828, 
called " The Acordada," followed by several days of pillage, gave 
the victory to the latter. Pedraza retired to France. 

January, 1829. — The new Congress assembled in the beginning 
of January, 1829, proclaimed null the election of Pedraza, and valid 
that of Guerrero, who took possession of the presidency, and ap- 
pointed Zavala, my translator. Minister of the Treasury; Caiiedo, 
the eminent supporter of my cause. Minister of Foreign Affairs, and 
Esteva, my good friend, Post-Master General. The Vice Presi- 
dent elected was General Anastasio Bustamante. 

Twelfth of February, 1829. — Informed of these events, I wrote 
under the date of the 12th of February, a short letter to Zavala, re- 
minding him of my services, sufferings, rights, &c. ■ 

Thirteenth of March, 1829. — I addressed a similar letter to 
Esteva, dated 13th March; to which I received no answer until the 
3d of October, as we shall see hereafter. 

Twentieth of April, 1829. — The answer which, dated 20th April, 
I received from Zavala, was this : 

"I have shown to President Guerrero your letter of February 
last, by which you solicit the permission of which you have spoken 
to me on other occasions, to return to this republic, from which you 
were arbitrarily banished ; and His Excellency has directed me to 
answer you that, as he does not acknotvledge the legality of that 



51 

barbarous measure^ you can return whenever you please, as did Don 
Pedro Lisautte, banished likewise under the Government of Senor 
Victoria, having met with no obstacle on his entering the Repub- 
lic." ( 72 ) 

NoTA. — The letter just transcribed of the Minister Zavala was 
conclusive. President Guerrero had not less right to annul a ban- 
ishment than President Victoria had had to order it. If any distinc- 
tion were to be made between the two proceedings, it is that Presi- 
dent Victoria had trampled at once upon his own executive rights 
and duties, and on the judicial and legislative authorities, by which 
his order of banishment had been publicly and officially condemned, 
whilst President Guerrero had only restored things to their na- 
tural position. It is then unquestiohably demonstrated that, from 
the 20th April, 1829, the date of the above ministerial communica- 
tion, my banishment was declared null, by the Mexican Government 
itself, putting me expressly at liberty to repair to Mexico lohenever 
I pleased. The Mexican Government, moreover, by stating that it 
did not acknowledge the legality of that barbarous measure, gave 
me implicity and evidently a right to claim a full indemnity for all 
injuries to my person and property. The legality of this claim was 
now acknowledged by the Mexican Government itself, without any 
reference to the place of my birth or citizenship; and consequently, 
if not in virtue of public treaties or other special stipulations, certainly 
in virtue of the laws of the country, and the principles of universal 
justice, the Mexican Government had become, by its own confession, 
a debtor towards me; and by its declaring that I was at liberty to 
repair to Mexico lohenever I pleased, it solemnly authorized me to 
go to Mexico and present my claim; so that, if a second un^'ust 
and illegal banishment prevented me from substantiating that C:iaim 
the same Government has contracted the obligation of atrjaino- for 
both banishments, and of paying the damages of their con "sequences. 
But the continuation of this statement of facts and tv/o/-aublic instru- 
ments of protest, will more fully and unobjectionr ^bly evince the 
exactness of this reasoning. ^' 

Fifteenth of May, 1829. — I wrote under th "delate of the 15th of 
May, to my friend General Santa Anna, f, letter which was an- 
swered on the 31st October, as we shall sef ~i 

Twenty- eighth of May, 1829.— It heir'} imprudent, at all events, 
to go again to Mexico, except sheltered " under a powerful protec- 
tion, and the time having arrived legp^^iy to receive the certificate of 
my naturalization as a citizen of t' ^e United States, I solicited and 
obtained it from the Marine Cr.art of New- York, dated 28th of 
May, 1829. ( 73 ) 

Twelfth of July, 1829.3— 'The preparations for my voyage were 
suspended on account of fJ.ie intelligence received from" Havana, of an 
imminent Spanish e^kpedition against Mexico, confirmed by the fol- 
lowing letter of thr- 12th of July, addressed to me from Vera Cruz, by 
a friend of mine -, father Domingo Hernandez, a Mexican clergyman: 



52 

" I have arrived in this city on the 7th instant. I have spoken 
with General Santa Anna about your passport, and he lias told me 
that he appreciates-you, and that you can come to this Republic. I 
have observed to him that you have suffered for a just cause, and so 
the General has understood it, I start to-morrow for the capital, and 
shall take care to send you the passport by any vessel bound for the 
north. Adieu, my friend. The expedition from Havana is expect- 
ed here every moment ; but they will be disappointed, for the Mexi- 
cans are united to repel the'invading enemy. All parties are at'an 
end, all run to arms. This nation will offer the example of France; 
when attacked in her Revolution, she subdued Europe, &c. 

" P. S. I can assure you that should you come before receiv- 
ing a passport, you will be well received ; but wait for it." ( 74 ) 

First of October, 1829. — The Spanish expedition, which arrived 
at Tampico towards the end of July, headed by General Isidro Bar- 
radas, had completely failed in September, owing both to the stupid- 
ity of that chief, and a treachery of Santa Anna of the most revolt- 
ing nature. I now heard bad news from Mexico, touching the ad- 
ministration of Guerrero. He began to feel the consequences of his 
stubborn resistance to some suggestions of mine, which have nothing 
to do with this writing. The unusual silence of all my friends there 
increased my apprehensions. I then wrote on this subject a letter, 
dated the 1st of October, to Mr. Luigi Griggi, my countryman, in 
Tampico, from whose answer we shall see that my presentiments 
were not unfounded. 

Third of October, 1829. — The long expected answer to my letter 
o/the 13th March, from Mr. Esteva, came at last, dated the 3d Oc- 
tobeii '• in the following terms : 

"Aftt^i" a considerable delay, I have received by the late mail 
your appi '■eciable letter of the 13th March. I soon after spoke earn- 
estly to the President, asking whether he thought it proper to give 
his orders for your return here, and His Excellency with much 
kindness has an;^ '"'ered me that there was no objection to your com- 
iw^ to the port, u d on your making known thence your arrival., 
the order or documekJ will be given for your advancing into the in- 
terior. By the adjoint 'd publication you will see the details of the 
triumph obtained over o.'r oppressors," &c. ( 75 ) 

Twenty-first of Octobet 1829. — The conqueror of the Spaniards 
at Tampico honored me n^ 'V with the following letter, dated Vera 
Cruz, 21st October: 

" My dear Sir and esteem!., t) Friend ; On one side the delay 
with which I have received your fav'-or of the 1 5th May, and on the 
other, the complicated urgencies of th^-^ ■service which has occupied 
me in these latter days, are the motives r-^r which I have not had 
until now the pleasure of answering you. J am sorry not to be 
able to do it as fully as I desire, because sine e my coming back 
from the campaign of Tampico, my health is very much impaired. 



53 

For the same motive I shall limit myself, for the present, to return 
you my most expressive thanks for the good opinion you have 
deigned to form of me, by attributing to my little know^ledge services 
in behalf of ray country, w^hich I would be happy to be able to rea- 
lize. [These thanks referred to his biography published by me in 
the Spanish '' Mercuric," of New- York.] As to yourself, there can 
be no objeclion to your return here, and, consequently, should you 
wish to effect it, you may come to this pointy whence the convenient 
orders shall be given, as soon as you inform me of your arrival, /or 
your going to the capital, or to any other place you may think pro- 
per. Nothing occurs to me to communicate to you, about particu- 
lar news. That which I desire is that we may have the prudence 
to gather the fruits we have sown by our recent victory, and that 
the nation may prosper as it should prosper, and as earnestly de- 
sires your true friend, who wishes you the most perfect health. 

'' Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna." { 76 ) 

Fifteenth of December, 1829. — Signer Griggi, in answer to my 
letter of the ist October, gave me under date of the 15th December, 
the following melancholy information : 

" I am astonished at the silence of your friends of Mexico; but 
if you read daily the newspapers, you will see that for the present 
they have no time or possibility to attend to your solicitations. The 
Government is on the eve of a crisis difficult to express, and many 
changes are anticipated for the next year. Zavala is no longer 
Minister of the Treasury; and Filisola is nothing. Those who 
play a role to-day are not certain to play the same to-morrow, and 
so all things go. You would do better to witness at a distance the 
development of these afiliirs." ( 77 ) 

First of January, 1830. — Guerrero was a good man, but a chief 
proper only for the ancient patriarchal times. As brave in the field 
as inept in the cabinet, he had many and powerful enemies, less for 
his Yorkinism and his Indian blood and color, than for his incapa- 
city of governing. In some confidential letters to him, which re- 
mained unanswered, I had foreseen the catastrophe Amongst 

so many proofs of weakness, he thought to ingratiate himself with 
the Escoceses, by causing the Minister Poinsett to be recalled, as 
happened in October, 1829; and then, after a short time, I was ho- 
nored in New- York with a visit from that gentleman, who certainly 
could not fail to regard me as a true and tried friend of his country. 
A worse political fault committed by Guerrero was not to have dis^ 
solved, immediately after the tragi-comedy of Tampico was over, 
the army of reserve encamped in Xalapa, under the command of 
the Vice President Bustamante, the champion of aristocracy and 
centralism. This Scnor revolted in the beginning of December, 
1829, against Guerrero, who fled home to the South ; and without 
recalling Pedraza, the President constitutionally elected by the 
State Legislatures, took himself the helm of the Union, as a Vice 



54 

President in the absence of the President. He entered upon his 
usurped functions on the 1st of Jcinuary, 1830, and placed the fa- 
mous Lucas Alaman at the head of the State Department. 

Third of February/, 1830. — Ignorant of these events, I had writ- 
ten to President Guerrero, under the date of the 1st January, an 
official note, stating that notwithstanding the permission he had 
granted to me through Senores Zavala y Esteva to return to Mexi- 
co, I wanted a passport, &c. ( 78 ) But this letter fell into the hands 
of Bustamante, and was answered, under date of 3d February, by 
Alaman, in the following terms: 

'' By your letter of the 1st of January of this year. His Excel- 
lency the Vice President has been informed of the solicitation to 
which it refers, about the corresponding orders to be delivered to the 
Consul of the Republic in your city, that he may expedite to you 
the correlative passport to enable you to return to Mexico, without 
exposing yourself to the inconveniences which you indicate, should 
you effect your voyage without being protected by said document, 
but solely in virtue of the communications of Messrs. Santa Anna 
and Esteva [he did not mention that of the Minister Zavala] ; and in 
answer to this, His Excellency directs me to inform you that he 
does not think it convenient^ for the presertt, to accede to the request 
expressed in the aforesaid letter. 

" God and Liberty. " Alaman." ( 79 ) 

Tenth of March, 1830. — After my banishment having been offi- 
cially annulled by President Guerrero, as illegal and barbarous.^ 
through a ministerial communication, the renewal of it without any 
new cause or pretext whatever, was evidently a new abuse of power 
on the part of the Mexican Vice President, more scandalous per- 
haps than that which had dishonored the presidency of Victoria ; 
and, as the Constitution of 1824 was still in vigor and untouched, 
it is clear that the Minister Alaman had incurred the same respon- 
sibility as Camacho. I replied to his official note a letter dated the 
10th March, rather too unceremonious ( SO ) ; but how could I help 
it? 

Fourteenth of March., 1830. — The report had been spread in 
Mexico by some of my political antagonists, that I was in Mexico, 
one of the editors of the ''El Redactor," a Spanish paper in New- 
York, avowedly devoted to the defence of the rights of Ferdinand 
VII to the re-conquest of his American Colonies. I contradicted 
such a rumor, in the " Mercurio," another Spanish paper in the 
same city, but neutral, as injurious to my liberal principles, and to 
my attachment to the independence of America formerly Spanish ; 
for which I was complimented by the Mexican gentleman Seiior 
Tiburcio Caiias, with the following letter, dated 14th March: 

'' I have received the " Mercurio," of the 23d of January, in 
which you evince your constant manner of thinking ; no other 
conduct could be expected from a man, who, like you, has sacrificed 



55 

his own viieresls, and has suffered long banishnents, in indefatigably 
supporting the liberty of all nations ; proofs of so great importance 
have sufficiently justified your virtues in the eyes of all those who 
reflect," &c. (81) 

Fifth of April, 1830.— The editors of the "El Redactor," how- 
ever, four in number, that is, a Senor Carrion with two sons and a 
Senor Granja, took offence at my declaration, and nobly had re- 
course to insulting personalities, charging me with the desire of in- 
gratiating myself with the Mexican Government, which they called 
'' a vile rabble of Mexican mandarines,^ ^ and with my having " been 
known to both worlds, and persecuted every where for my revolu- 
tionary principles." Hence a war arose between that quadruple 
alliance and myself, and I presented them with a pamphlet against 
all Spanish pretensions. ( * ) No Mexican ever spoke in favor of the 
liberties of his own country, and of the honor of her leaders, with 
more courage or zeal ; for which I received from General Basadre, 
who was at that period in New- York, the following request, dated 
5th April : 

*'My distinguished and esteemed Friend: — I consider it 
very important to disseminate in my country the luminous ideas you 
have displayed in your ' Reply to the Redactor ;' and for that pur- 
pose permit me to ask of you three or four copies of it. Could you 
favor me likewise with a copy of your work on Panama, you 
would greatly oblige your very devoted friend and servant, 

''J. Ignacio de Bassadre." (82) 

And this my devoted friend and servant, is the same Basadre, who, 
in quality of '' hombre bueno" of the poet Heredia, before the Al- 
calde Elizalde, had on the 7th August, 1826, proved to be my 
enemy, and of whom Senator Alpuche, in his " Second Cry against 
the Inhumanity of the Government," of the 9th July, of that year, 
made a portrait not very flattering. 

Ni7ith of June, 1830. — Senores Carrion and Granja would not 
cease fighting ; but being at a loss for want of weapons, asked in 
their paper for informations from some "good soul," to clear up their 
doubts about my person. A "good soul," Mr. A. Martino, then ap- 
peared, without my knowledge, in the Daily Advertiser, of the 9th 
June, 1830, and gave the noble quartette the following information: 

'' To THE Editors of the Redactor : 

" Gentlemen : Informed by your paper of the 20th May last, that 
you desire from 'alguna buena alma' (some good soul) any commu- 
nication which might clear up your doubts about Mr. O. de A. Santan- 
gelo, I hasten to inform you, that this gentleman belongs to one of the 
most distinguished families of Naples, my native country; that his 
father Francis de Attellis, Marquis de Sant'Angelo, was one of the 
most illustrious literati of Italy ; that he himself has constantly been 
respected as gifted with uncommon literary, political and military 
talents; that in 1815, when the reign of Murat was overthrown in 



56 

Naples, he retired from service, preserving his military rank and 
uniform, and deserved at the bar public esteem ; so that I went my- 
self to consult him, several times at his house, about a suit I pro- 
posed to begin for recovering a considerable property ; that his latest 
emigration from Naples in 1821, has been caused by the downfall of 
the constitutional system in that country ; that he was there the pa- 
triot most feared by the absolutists, on account of his having pro- 
posed, in the 'Alta Vendita, of Carbonari,' the expulsion of the 
Bourbonic dynasty, the establishment of a Democratic Republic, and 
the proclamation of the liberty of all Italy. [This is not exact ; I 
proposed the reunion of all Italy in a Constitutional Monarchy, under 
the Bourbons of Naples.] That always ' restless' (inquieto), as you 
say, for the cause of mankind, but never versatile in his honorable 
purpose, he was one of the Italian refugees in Catalonia, who in 1822 
took up arms, under the command of Col. Olini, as a simple volun- 
teer, notwithstanding his advanced age, in defence of the Spanish 
Constitution ; that sheltered since six years in America, and con- 
nected afterwards in marriage with a respectable lady of Philadel- 
phia, has constantly been as cherished by his new family, as esteemed 
by his friends, pupils and resident countrymen, all ready, I pre- 
sume, to confute, even in a legal way, any slanderous attempt 
against his private and public virtues ; that, as a gentleman, an offi- 
cer, a patriot, and a philosopher, he cannot fail to honor both his 
native and adopted country ; and that his misfortunes ought to excite 
the sympathy, and the utmost respect of all honestand virtuous men, 
whatever be their political opinions. I flatter myself of having suf- 
ficiently dispersed your doubts on this subject, although it be 
somewhat strange that your attacks upon Sant'Angclo have no bet- 
ter ground than doubts. 

" Please now, gentlemen, to clear up mine, and those of the pub- 
lic, about yourselves. Are you citizens or strangers? Refugees 
or adventurers? Free or servile? Is your war against Sant'An- 
gclo, that of ignorance against knowledge, of foolishness against 
wisdom, of slavery against freedom, of Erostratus against the tem- 
ple of Diana, of the frog of the fable against Jupiter, or of fanati- 
cism against civilization ? 

I am, in the mean time, respectfully yours, 

A. Martino." (83) 

Sixteenth of September^ 1830. — After the downfall of President 
Guerrero, many respectable Mexicans repaired to New- York, and 
all of them constantly honored me with their visits, friendship and 
confidence. A proof of this is the following invitation : 

" L. de Zavala and J. A, Mexia, request the honor of your com- 
pany to the banquet they have prepared to celebrate the anniversary 
of the Mexican Independence, at the Washington Hall, on the 16th 
instant, at 4 o'clock. P. M. 

Senor Marquis de Santangelo." ( 84 ) 

January, 1831. — The administration of the Vice President Bus- 



57 

tamante produced nothing but conspiracies, revolts and executions, 
all over the Republic. A victory gained in Chilpancingo, by Gen. 
Bravo, on the beginning of January, 1831, over the disaifected, had 
but increased their number. It was thought to be indispensable to 
destroy at once, by all means, the idol of the mass, Gen. Guerrero, 
to suppress the so called Rebellion ; and towards the end of the same 
month of January, that brave man, without whose sword no inde- 
pendence would ever have been established in New Spain, a victim 
of the most hideous treachery, was shot. Universal execration now 
pronounced itself against Bustamante and his ministry. Hence the 
project of Gen. Santa Anna to put them all down, and prepare his 
own elevation to the presidency. This paragraph is but an intro- 
duction to the statement of those facts, of which my " second" ban- 
ishment from JVIexico, by order of Santa Anna himself, was the 
result. 

March, 1831 . — I was favored in March 1 83 1 , with the first volume 
of a work published by Senor Lorenzo de Zavala, entitled: "Essay 
on the Revolutions of Mexico, from 1808 to 1830;" and I found in 
it from page 356 to 359, a long tale concerning my banishment from 
Mexico, from which I have made this short extract: ( 85 ) 

"On the 1st of July (1826), the Governor of the Federal District, 
Don Francisco Molinos del Campo, received an order, signed by the 
Secretary of State, Don Sebastian Camacho, to cause O. de A. Sant- 
angelo to go, under an escort of cavalry, to Vera Cruz, and there to 
embark for foreign parts. The extraordinary powers had already 
been withdrawn from the President, and there was no law, no con- 
stitutional provision, empowering the Executive to expel foreigners 
ad libitum. But writers were not wanting, who, on the absurd 
maxim, destructive of all liberty, of 'the Government having the 
right of doing every thing that the Constitution does not forbid,' 
granted the President the unbounded authority of expelling for- 
eigners. Of this number were Don Jose Maria Tornel, Don Andres 
Q,uintana, and the editors of the 'Sun,' although on this very topic 
I had inserted in those days in the same periodical, an article against 
that imaginary right of the President, and in which I declared that 
the same ' was always asleep, and only awoke to do mischief,' Don 
Juan de Dios Caiiedo, Don J. M. Alpuche, Don A. J. Valdes, Don 
Pablo Villavicencio, Don Ramon Ccruti, and others, wrote severely 
against the arbitrary act. The Government, however, carried the 
measure into effect; and the unfortunate Santangelo, with a son 
eighteen years old, were expelled from the republic with violence, 
and without resource. On their going to the coast, in a season as 
hot as it was unhealthy, such as the month of August, young Sant- 
angelo was attacked by the yellow fever, and that disconsolate parent 
had to witness the death of his son on the vessel which was convey- 
ing them to Philadelphia. Sad reward of his zeal for liberty!" &c. 

Thus history revenges oppressed innocence, and covers tyranny 
with eternal opprobrium, 
8 



58 

Fifth, of April, 1331. — A treaty of amity, commerce and naviga- 
tiof), was signed on the 5ih April, 1831, in Mexico, by Mr. A. 
Butler, on the part of the United States, and the Ministers Lucas 
Alaman and Raphael Mangino, on the part of Mexico, to be ratified, 
and the ratifications to be exchanged in Washington, within the term 
of one year. 

NoTA. — In this treaty no sT/mpatheUc privileges were granted by 
Mexico to her sister Rcp/'blics of Central and SoxUhem America. 
On the contrary, the most perfect equality and reciprocity were 
adopted as the "basis of the agreement," and the United States were 
placed, towards Mexico, on the footing of the most favored nations 
in all respects. When we remember the obstinacy of the Mexican 
Government in its design of granting those privileges, the vigorous 
and fruitless oppositions from Mr. Poinsett, and the force of my ar- 
guments in favor of the United States, published at the very period 
when the debate between that Minister and the Mexican negotiators 
was tending more and more to a rupture, as we have seen in this 
statement of facts, at the date of the 13th June, 1826, it will appear 
evident, that I was banished for having contributed efficiently to the 
settlement of that vital question, and advocated a measure which was 
at last acknowledged and adopted by the Mexican Government itself, 
as just and convenient to the interests of its country. From the re- 
sult of my claim on it, we will see what thanks I shall have to return 
both to Mexico and the United States. 

But the provision of the treaty, on which my claim chiefly rests, 
is the following: 

'' Art. XIV. Both the contracting parties promise and engage to 
give their special protection to the perso?is and property of the citi- 
zens of each other of all occupation, who maybe in their territories, 
subject to the jurisdiction of the one or of the other, transient or 
dwelling therein; leaving open and free to them the tribunals of 
justice for their judicial recourse, on the same terms which are 
usual and customary with the yuatives or citizens of the country in 
which they may be ; for which they may employ, in defence of their 
rights, such advocates, solicitors, attorneys, agents and factors as 
they may judge proper, in all their trials at law; and the citizens of 
either party, or their agents, shall enjoy in every respect, the same 
rights and privileges, either in prosecuting or defending their rights 
of person or of property, as the citizens of the country where the 
cause may be tried." ( * ) 

Ninth of April, 1831. — General Santa Anna had hitherto been 
extremely neglectful in his correspondence with me. The time had 
now arrived in which the execution of his ambitious plans required 
the display of all his energies ; and, amongst other things, he thought 
convenient to recall himself to my memory, to have me ready for 
some further exertions in his behalf lie wrote me, then, the fol- 
lowing introductory letter; 



59 

"Manga de Clabo, April dlh, 1831. 
''Senor O. de a. Santangelo: 

"My esteemed Friend; "1 have before me your valued letters 
of the 1st January, 1st February, 8th April, 1st May, of past year, 
and that of the 5th February last, virhich, on account of my bad 
health, and for want of an amanuensis in this solitary place, 1 have 
deprived myself of the satisfaction of answering in proper time; 
for which you will have the goodness to excuse me. I remain ap- 
prized of the refusal to the solicitation you made to the President, 
being extremely sorry for its bad success; for you know my affec- 
tion to your jjcrson, and the interest I take in your tvelfare. In 
regard to my country, I cannot tell you any thing, because it is now 
sixteen months since I have abandoned public affairs and retired 
to this farm, which is my own property, where I desire nothing but 
the peace and the welfare of the country, and my own tranquillity. 
1 never enjoyed more satisfaction than during the time of my re- 
tirement, in the bosom of my adored family. I enjoy the necessary 
comforts of life, and look with horror upon high stations ; so 
it is that in this corner I am nothing else than a spectator of what is 
passing in the world. I hope you are always well, relying always 
on my best wisjies, and command me in all that you deem to be 
useful, as your true friend and assured servant, who kisses your 

^^'^"^^- "A. L. DE Santa Anna." ( 86 ) 

In this letter, my tr^te friend acknowledged the receipt of five 
letters of mine ; but he did not answer them. He did not acknow- 
ledge the publication I had made of his biography, and of a multi- 
tude of long, elaborate, and costly articles on his rights to Mexican 
gratitude and consideration, nor of my pamphlet against the " El 
Redactor," wholly calculated to prepare, at home and abroad, the 
opinion of the world in his favor. Neither did he answer my re- 
peated solicitations for his interference in my affair with Dick ; nor 
had I ever had from him a word of condolence for the fate of my 
son, of congratulation for my second marriage, or of interest for my 
claim on the Mexican Government, for a redress to so many suffer- 
ings and losses it had so unjustly caused to me. This was his sys- 
tem — never to acknowledge an obligation or a debt, and never take 
the least interest in what did not relate to himself; and, unhappily, I 
did not know him well, nor had I ever had a particular motive to 
study his character or doubt his intentions. 

Fifteenth of May, 1831. — Another true and good friend, the 
famous Basadre, of whom I have made already a sufficiently honor- 
able mention, and to whom I had addressed a letter of introduction 
in fiivor of an English gentleman, seized this opportunity to write 
me an epistle extremely affectionate, dated 15th May, 1831, deplor- 
^'ng the fate of Guerrero, and stating that "the Mexican horizon 
.\Aas dark ;" that the candidates for the next presidency were Santa 



60 

Anna ;ind Tcran (wlio about this time committed suicide), and that 
General Facie was to be tiie Vice President, &c. ( 87 ) 

Twciitirlk of Jidy, 1831. — A new and striking proof of my con- 
tinuing to possess the friendship and confidence of the Mexicans, 
will appear, in the eyes of all those who know their notable perso- 
nages and feats, in the following letter from General Mcxia, on his 
having returned to Mexico : 

>'' Mexico, July 20iA, 1831. 
"Senor Marquis de Saxtangelo: — 

''Most esteemed Friend: With your favor of the 4th ultimo, 
I received the prospectus of your new establishment [that of a Fo- 
reign College], and after having had it inserted in the periodicals of 
the capital, 1 have recommended it to Zacatecas and Guadalajara, 
in order that it might be republished in those papers. You know 
that you have in me a friend whom you can and mnsi use with con- 
fidence in whatever you please, certain of my efficacy in serving 
you. My family enjoys good health; ray rheumatisms are getting 
much better; and Mr. Tosso, strong and vigorous as ever, salutes 
you. The bearer of the present is my friend Colonel Almonte 
[afterwards the fellow-prisoner of Santa Anna in Texas], who is 
accompanying Selior Caiiedo as secretary of the extraordinary mis- 
sion they have been trusted with to the Republics of South Ame- 
rica. This friend is a speaking epistle, and will inform you 
minutely of the state of the country, &c. 

''Jose Antonio Mexia." ( 88 ) 

Eleventh of October^ 1831. — The election of the new President 
was to take place towards the end of 1832, and the elected was to 
enter into office on the 1st of April, 1833 ; but Santa Anna, after the 
death of his first rival, General Teran, had now to fear the opposi-' 
lion of three other candidates: General Bravo, the grand com- 
mander of the Escoceses ; Pedraza, illegally supplanted by poor 
Guerrero; and, above all, Bustamante himself, who being actually 
Vice President, in the temporary exercise of the presidential func- 
tions, could be legally appointed President for the next term, and 
whose powerful influence, whilst at the head of the Union, would 
have very likely defeated all other pretenders. To resort, then, to 
arras against Bustamante, and to put the press early in action in his 
favor, behold his plan. Accordingly, whilst preparing for war, he, 

who LOOKED WITH HORROR UPON HIGH STATIONS, wrOte tO me 

the following masterpiece of ambition, impudence and imbecility: 

'•Vera Cruz, October Uth, 1831. 

"Senor de a. Santangelo: — 

" My esteemed Friend : I have the pleasure to answer your 
favor of the 5th ultimo, by which I perceive that my letter of the 
9th April last, came to hand. I have received the prospectus of the 
" Foreign College " you contemplate to estabhsh, which not only 



61 

meets with my entire approbation, but, considering your talents and 
uncommon acquirements, I congratulate you on employing them in 
a manner so generally useful, and personally honorable. I thank 
you cordially for the news and observations you have had the kind- 
ness to communicate to me, and both make me desire the continua- 
tion of your esteemed epistles. Retired as I am, on my farm, and 
there exclusively devoted to the cultivation and improvement of my 
small estate, I cannot reply, as I desire, to the news with which you 
have favored me. But, even in that retirement, and though sepa- 
rated from the arena of politics, I could never view with indifference 
any discredit thrown on my own country, nor any thing which might, 
in the smallest degree, possess that tendency. We enjoy at present 
peace and tranquillity, and 1 do not know of any other question of 
public interest now in agitation, than the approaching elections of 
President and Vice President. When that period shall arrive, 
should I obtain a majority of suffrages, / ain ready to accept the 
honor., and to sacrifice, for the benefit of the nation, my repose and 
the charms of private life. My fixed system is to be called {ser 
llamado), resembling in this a modest maid, who rather expects 
to be desired, than to show herself to be desiring. I think that my 
position justifies me in this respect. Nevertheless, as what is written 
in a foreign country has much influence at home, especially among 
us, in your city I think it proper to make a great step on this sub- 
ject ; and by fixing the true aspect, in which such or such services 
should be regarded as respects the various candidates^ one could 
undoubtedly contribate to fix here public opinion, which is at pre- 
sent extremely wavering and uncertain. Of course this is the pe- 
culiar province of ICF' the friends of Mexico ;.=C3| ^^^ ^.s well 
by this title as on account of the acquirements and instruction you 
possess, I know of no one better qualified than yourself to exe- 
cute such a benevolent undertaking. As to the rest, you are able 
to judge how far it would be proper to give importance to this ques- 
tion in one or more journals of the country ; all of w^hich I leave 
with pleasure to your own discretion. — In the mean time it only re- 
mains for me to wish you success in your new enterprise. I regret 
I have no sons to send you ; but be sure that, on my part, I will not 
fail to employ ail my influence with my friends to insure patronage 
to your useful and well projected establishment, of the progress of 
which I hope you will favor me from time to time with informa- 
tion, which will always give satisfaction to your ^r^z^e /ne?if? and 
servant, who kisses your hands. 

"Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna." (89) 

This letter evinced in Santa Anna, besides a disordered ambition, 
whose effects could be good or bad, an absolute want of bon sens and 
modesty; and, by his supposing that I was unable to understand his 
witty language, my self-love was somewhat piqued. Nevertheless, 
the necessity in which I was to go to Mexico, and settle my claim 



62 

on that Government, and the hope that, on his reaching power, he 
would faithluUy serve the good cause, gave me courage enough to 
go on in lending my assistance to that Seiior. 

Twcnty-tkird of January^ 1832. — On my reflecting upon the 
little sincerity of Santa Anna, and the probability of his opposing 
hereafter my return to Mexico, or even of his becoming my enemy, 
should he suspect that I would ask there his protection and inter- 
ference in favor of a pecuniary redress from that Government, 
which could not perhaps be in his political views to grant, I re- 
solved never to mention again to him or others that intention, but 
insist for the permission to go to Mexico, merely " to establish there 
a lyceum for the education of youth." In fact, such an establish- 
ment had been proposed to me and earnestly urged upon by all the 
notable Mexicans who had visited my flourishing boarding-school 
in New- York. Under this view I continued afterwards soliciting 
a passport for Mexico; and under the same view I returned to the 
letter of the "modest maid," of the 11th October, an answer dated 
the 23d January, 1832, of which he speaks in a subsequent letter. 

Twenty-second of February^ 1832. — The treaty concluded be- 
tween the United States and Mexico, on the 5th April, 1831, was 
violated before its ratification by a decree of the Mexican Congress, 
dated 22d February, 1832, thus conceived: 

'' It is among the faculties of the Supreme Government to expe- 
dite passports and expel from the territory of the republic every 
foreigner not naturalized, whose permanence in it said Government 
may qualify as prejudicial to public order, even when the foreigner 
had introduced and established himself in it comformably w-ith the 
rules prescribed by the laws." ( 90 ) 

NoTA. — It is useless to observe that, from this savage decree the 
American citizens, protected by the article xiv of the treaty, were 
not excepted. The wise Mexican lawgivers thought, perhaps, that 
the treaty was not oUigatory until after the exchange of its ratifi- 
cations. At all events the fact does not speak much in favor of 
Mexican good faith, inasmuch as the term prefixed for the ratifi- 
cation was very nearly at hand. We shall make other important re- 
marks on this vital subject, when we shall have to mention the rati- 
fication in question. 

Ttveniy-third nf March, 1832. — By this time the jjronunciami- 
ento of Santa Anna had taken place, and his war against Busta- 
mante had commenced. Flence the long pathetico-apologetico-his- 
torico- warlike communication to me, as follows : 

'•Vera Cruz, 3Iarch 23d, 1832. 

•'Senor O. de A. Santangelo: 

"My very esteemed Friend: I have received, with the 
greatest pleasure, your attentive and kind letter of the 23d January 
last, which has given me the utmost satisfaction, as well on account 
of the patriotic ideas contained in it, as of the obliging expressions 



63 

of your estimable friendship. It has hitherto been impossible for me 
to answer it ; and although in this very moment many occwpations 
surround me on account of circumstances, I wish not to delay the 
pleasure of writing to you to give you an idea of them. — Two years 
had elapsed since the nation was laboring under the ignominious 
yoke imposed on it by the Ministry, which was indebted to a revo- 
lution, executed arms in hand, for its elevation, and whose members, 
far from having ever rendered any service to their country, had on 
the contrary, opposed its interests, and given, by their conduct, une- 
quivocal proofs of their design to subvert the established order, and 
raise on its ruins a system diametrically contrary to the liberal one, 
adopted with the universal approbation of the people. They spared 
no means. The gold of the treasury was spread with profusion : 
and not only did they perpetrate enormous crimes, but even left 
unpunished those committed by other functionaries, who were of 
their party. 

"All being tired of this series of abuses, and seeing liberty every 
day more and more in danger, the Constitution outraged, and the 
laws without effect, except only %vhcn and hoio their execution loas 
convenient to the Ministry and its agents, a general desire reigned 
to see it dismissed, and replaced by another more worthy of the con- 
fidence of the people, and the nation again placed in the enjoyment 
of her true tranquillity, and of all her dearest and imprescriptible 
rights. 

'' But how to destroy the terror inspired by this sanguinary ad- 
ministration ? How express frank and clear opinions without fear? 
Could the State Legislatures and principal functionaries, who are 
creatures of the fower which it is noio question to overthrow, be the 
faithful interpreters of their fellow-citizens, whose will is directly op- 
posed to the private interests of the former ? Hence it Avas that the 
combustibles were slowly and secretly accumulating, which were to 
cause a great conflagration^ had not proper means, suggested by 
justice and prudence, been resorted to in time. 

" All this was represented to me by the private communications 
which I received, while retired in the country, from respectable 
individuals interested in good order, and from various States, through 
persons delegated to address me for this purpose ; and as I had pro- 
tested that only in the case of a foreign invasion, or of an attack 
upon the system and liberty of the Republic, would I again have 
drawn the sword, this latter case having occurred, it was indispen- 
sable for me to comply with my protestation, inasmuch as the 
garrisons of this place and Ulua, who had already written a peti- 
tion to the Executive, soliciting the removal of the Ministry, urged 
me to give it a proper course, and to interpose the little influence 
which my good personal friendship with the President and some of 
the Ministers gave me. 

" I did so ; but what was the answer given to my humble petition 
and interference? Be astonished, my friend! It was the same as in 



64 

a like case could have been rendered by the greatest despot! Noisy 
wuviike measures, executive orders for the assault of this place, and 
the extermination of its principal chief; the most unheard of seduc- 
tion to attract to their party, at any price, every one that could favor 
their desie;ns; themostawful plans imaginable; calumnies, sarcasms, 
and falsehoods, decrees violently drawn from Congress, either for the 
closing of the port, or to cause the revenues of the custom-house to 
be collected in an illegal manner, as paid in the capital, &c. 

" After so many efforts, the Ministry was able to expedite a force 
which scarcely consisted of two thousand men, and which came to 
post itself at about six leagues from this place : and I went with a 
small division to their very rear guard, and took a rich convoy of 
money, provisions and effects, and brought with me, on my return 
here, three hundred prisoners, who incorporated themselves in my 
ranks. 

" This occurrence and the continual losses produced to the enemy 
by desertion and sickness, obhged them to break up their camp at 
my first summons, and retire. They were not yet far when I made 
a second sally from the place, with a small force and no artillery ; 
and forcing my march, I came in contact with them, and a skirmish 
ensued, in which, without the triumph being said to have been gained 
by either party, the slaughter was considerable ; but, for us, it has 
only produced the effect of delaying the termination of the actual 
dispute ; for our loss has been completely repaired, and the enthu- 
siasm which reigns is so great and general that I never saw the like 
since the memorable epoch of our independence. In this moment 
the Ministerial troops occupy the point of Vergara, in sight of this 
city, and at one league from its front, and certainly they could not 
have better complied with our wishes, for it is there that they will 
soon be routed. 

" In the mean time, I enjoy the satisfaction of hearing that, besides 
the manifestations made by the legislatures of Zacatecas, lalisco and 
Tamaulipas to accede to the petition of this garrison, that of the port 
of Tampico has also pronounced itself in its favor, together with its 
civil and ecclesiastic authorities, in virtue of which the entrance of 
money through that important point, has been shut to the Ministry, 
and this was at present its greatest support. In the Federal city the 
journals of the Opposition expatiate with the greatest freedom, and 
public spirit strengthens in an indescribable manner throughout the 
whole Republic. 

" In vieviT of this, I hope that in my next I will have the pleasure 
of informing you of the complete triumph of reason and justice 
[Moliere's Tartuffe could not speak better] over the most unbounded 
despotism, and to be able to assure you that our happy country 
marches on the road traced out to it by its Constitution and funda- 
mental laws, in perfect tranquillity and good order. In the mean 
time, be so kind as to show the contents of the present to all our 
friends, for their satisfaction. You will be persuaded that my pre- 



65 

sent occupations do not allow me the facility of procuring for you 
the biographies which you ask [documents for a " Contemporary 
History of Mexico," I am compiling] ; but I will not fail to re- 
member them. As to the permission which you solicit, to return 
to this country and establish in it a college, I shall opportunely 
answer you [this reserve was but the precursor of a treachery] ; 
for I consider this idea to be extremely useful, especially if the efforts 
of the professors of both sexes, whom you offer to bring with you, 
will be united under your good direction. Take care of yourself, 
my good friend, and believe me truly to wish you the greatest hap- 
piness, and I kiss your hands. 

"Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna." ( 91 ) 

Fifth of April, 1832. — The treaty of amity, commerce and navi- 
gation, between the United States and Mexico, concluded on the 5th 
April, 1831, was ratified on the 5th April, 1832, Consequently, the 
decree of the Mexican Congress, of the 22d February, 1832, which 
had violated the treaty concluded, was derogated by the treaty rati- 
fied. That decree '' empowered the Mexican Government to expel 
ad libitum all foreigners not naturalized, although legally intro- 
duced and established in the country;" and the article xiv of the 
ratified treaty placed, on the contrary, the persons and property of 
American citizens in Mexico, of all occupations, on the same foot- 
ing as the native, '' leaving open and free to them the tribunals of 
justice, for their judicial recourse, either in prosecuting or defend- 
ing their rights of person and property," without the least excep- 
tion as to the liberty of the press, or political opinions. 

In spite of this public stipulation, I was afterwards, in June, 1835, 
banished a second time from Mexico, in virtue of another Presiden- 
tial lettre de cachet from the modest maid, and, as we shall see, 
entirely ruined. 



MY SECOND BANISHMENT. 

July, 1832. — The ratification of the treaty of the 5th Aprii, 1831, 
had now destroyed all my apprehensions about Mexican despotism. 
I had, from the very Constitution and laws of the countr}', the most 
indisputable right to the redress of wrongs of the most distressing 
nature. My first banishment had been formally acknowledged as 
illegal and unjust, first by the judicial and legislative powers, and 
the whole nation, and then by the Executive itself, under the admi- 
nistration of President Guerrero. As long as the banishment lasted, 
far from complaining of it to my own Government, or arraigning 
the Mexican Government or nation before the public, I only defend- 
ed the Mexican rights and honor against the pretensions of Spain, 
and the curses of Spanish writers. I could therefore proceed to 
Mexico with the most sanguine expectations. New letters from 
Santa Anna, relating new triumphs, and advising me to go to New- 
9 



66 

Orleans, there wait for the final overthrow of the iisurper, and ad- 
vocate, in the mean time, the liberal cause, and his rights to the 
presidency, in some French paper, as the English was not under- 
stood at all in that Republic, determined now my departure. I 
then gave up my flourishing boarding-school ; and as the establish- 
ment of a lyceura in Mexico was to be the ostensible object of my 
second visit to that country, I brought with me, besides my personal 
equipage, fifteen large boxes filled with books, in all branches of 
knowledge and in several languages, and a rich chemical apparatus, 
mathematical and astronomical instruments, models for drawing, 
splendid maps, choice music for piano and guitar, a costly piano, &c., 
the Avhole amounting to nearly $5,000, the fruit of six years literary 
labors ; and with a passport from the State Department of Wash- 
ington, countersigned by the Mexican Consul in New- York, Mr. 
Treat, for myself, my wife, a chamber-maid, and a professor of che- 
mistry and botany, whom I had engaged for the contemplated ly- 
ceum, I landed in July, 1832, in New-Orleans. 

Fourth. of October, 1832. — The cholera morbus soon made its 
appearance in that city, together with the yellow fever, which rava- 
ges it annually in. the summer. Our position became now as dan- 
gerous as our living was expensive. Informed that my friend 
Zavala was at that period in Vera Cruz, I wrote to him in the be- 
ginning of September, soliciting some news about the situation of 
Santa Aniia, and requesting him to inquire from the latter when I 
could start for a Mexican port. To this Seiior Zavala answered, 
under date of the 4th October : 

" I have received your letter of September last, and am glad that 
nothing bad has happened to you, in the midst of the ocean of in- 
firmities which surround you. A man like you must neither die 
of the cholera, the yellow fever, nor of "any of those events which 
come to kill men before their time. General Santa Anna is at pre- 
sent in the vicinity of Puebla, with three thousand five hundred 
men, and it is probable that he will occupy that city within four 
days. Although Moctezuma has experienced a trifling defeat near 
San Miguel Del Grande, he has restored his forces, and has to-day 
upwards of six thousand men to oppose to Bustaraante, who has only 
three thousand. Such is the state of things, of which we do not know 
what will be the bloody development; but the cause of the people 
will probably triumph. Every day the object of the aristocrats be- 
comes more palpable, and things are made known. This is a great 
advantage for the Mexicans. I have written to General Santa Anna 
about your return ; and as soon as I shall have an answer, I will 
communicate it to you; but I do not believe that there will be any 
obstacle to your disembarking. Here all foreigners enter. Why 
should not you, being a liberal and learned stranger?" &c. ( 92 ) 

Ninth of October, 1832. — The above letter of Zavala, of the 4th 
October, had not yet come to hand, when, on the 9th, I published on 
the French part of the '' Bee," of New-Orleans, under the signature 



67 

of X. Y. Z., a long- and elaborate biography of Santa Anna, ( * ) 
which was republished in all the anti-ministerial papers of the 
Mexican Union, concluding thus: ^^ Dans un autre article j'etab- 
lirai un faralleh raisonne entre les Generaux Santa Anna et 
■ Bustamanie, sous le rapfort de la legitimite de leurs entreprises 
respectivesJ' My hero could not, therefore, be ignorant of it, and 
he must have found it well calculated to captivate in his behalf the 
general opinion of his nation. It is useless to remark, that I wrote 
it under the impression of serving the right cause of the Mexicans, 
and of a man, in whose favor I was bona fide prepossessed. I was 
pleased to give him a new proof of consistency and faithful friend- 
ship. He was still struggling against a powerful foe; success was 
uncertain ; but I thought that in his trying situation, my efforts in 
procuring for him a more vig-orous and extensive popularity among 
his countrymen, ought to have excited some sense of gratitude in 
his heart. But had he a heart? Nous le verrons. 

Ttoenty-fifth of October, 1832. — Santa Anna would not appear to 
fight Bustamante, in order to place himself immediately in his stead. 
He was too modest a maid for that. His avowed design was to 
restore Pedraza to the presidency, to which the majority of the State 
Legislatures had called him, and which was given to Guerrero by 
the people ; because, had Bustamante remained, as the representa- 
tive of Guerrero, acting as President until the expiration of the cur- 
rent term, Pedraza could have been elected for the next, and thus 
defeat his hopes. Pedraza did not evince on this occasion much 
acuteness of mind, in acceding to this plan, and went to wait in 
New-Orleans for a call. Whilst he was there, I wrote him a note, 
dated 25th of October, 1832, entreating him to tell me, with the 
frankness of a gentleman, '' whether on his reaching the presidency, 
I could return to Mexico without apprehending any opposition on 
his part;" a question rather embarrassing for one of the Ministers 
who had banished me in 1826. To this he answered, under the 
same date, the following note, of which I have never been able to 
understand the true meaning about what he says of Europe : 

"Sengr Horacio de Attellis Santangelo: Mianuel Gomez 
Pedraza, in answer to the question proposed to him this day by Mr. 
Santangelo, says with the frankness desired by him, that he does not 
think there exists at present the motives which in 1826 determined 
the Government of Mexico to cause him to leave that Republic ; be- 
cause, if the " Four Discussions of the Congress of Panama" could 
tinder those circumstances be prejudicial to the interests of the coun- 
try, at present the situation of Europe has changed its politics 
towards America. He remains Mr. Santangelo's servant, and kisses 
his hands. Manuel Gomez Pedraza. ( 93 ) 

*' New-Orleans, October 25th 1832." 

Nota. — These few lines of Senor Pedraza -offer important con- 



68 

siderations : First, that my " Congress of Panama" was the only 
cause of my banishment; secondly, that I was to be treated at most 
as an involuntary performer of an imprudent act, and by no means 
as a wilful culprit; thirdly, that my removal from Mexico, if truly 
indispensable, ought to have been executed with all the regard due 
to unfortunate innocence, and in no wise as the punishment of a 
crime. The epithet sospechoso, was then evidently a gratuitous 
injury. The confession of these truths comes now from one of the 
very ministry by whom that epithet was applied, and that banish- 
ment decreed and executed, against a judicial and legislative absolu- 
tion, and in open violation both of the letter and the sense of the 
fundamental code of the country. And when we reflect that such 
banishment was not only inflicted with all the characteristics of a 
true punishment, but even accompanied by the most outrageous 
insults and calumnies from the Government itself, what should the 
world think of a judge, American, Mexican, or Chinese, who would 
not acknowledge my right to a redress proportionate to the offence? 

At all events the note of Senor Pedraza gave me at once a better 
idea, if not of his mind, at least of his heart, and the consoling securi- 
ty that, in case of my reappearing on the Mexican shores, under his 
presidency, I had to apprehend no disagreeable mischance there. 
My departure now solely depended on the final result of Santa Anna's 
warlike enterprise. 

Nineteenth of November, 1832. — The " Parallele Raisonne" be- 
tween Santa Anna and Bustamante, which I had promised in the 
biography of the former, appeared on the " Bee," of the 19th of 
November, and was continued on that of the 21st, under the same 
signature, X. Y. Z. ( * ) It does not belong to me to give an ade- 
quate idea of that production. Suffice it to say that it was nothing 
less than a complete historical recapitulation of all the facts of both 
those champions, since the first opening of the revolutionary scene 
in New-Spain; but the efforts which I was obliged to make to have 
the balance always turning in favor of my friend, without appearing 
before the world to be either a liar or a flatterer, were beyond de- 
scription; and Santa Anna had therein another luminous proof that 
no Mexican was or ever could be more devoted to him than myself. 

Twenty-third of December, 1832. — The contending warriors 
Bustamante and Santa Anna came at last to an arrangement, on the 
23d December, signed in a village near Puebla, called " Zavaleta," 
by General Antonio Gaona, General Mariano Arista, and Colonel 
Lino Acorta, on the part of the former, and Generals Juan Pablo 
Anaya, Gabriel Valencia and Ignacio Basadre, on the part of the 
latter. By the articles 1st to 6th of that Convention, both parties 
agreed upon the continuation of the Federal system; a full amnesty 
to all parties ; new elections of members of State Legislatures and 
Congress; their instalment for the 1 3th February, 1833; the elec- 
tion of the President and Vice President for the 1st March, all over 
the Union ; the returns to be unsealed on the 25th, by Congress in 



69 

Mexico ; and Pedraza to be in tlie mean time the President until 
the 1st April, when he was to yield his seat to the new comer. The 
rest of the Convention contained but the seeds of new civil wars. 

January, 1833. — This being- the time of the .presidential elections, 
I thought it to be my duty to exert myself in favor of the modest 
maid. I then published in two numbers of the "Bee," in thebegin- 
ninsf of January, 1833, although still unacquainted with the "Con- 
vention of Zavaleta," of the 23d December, a profoundly studied 
dissertation, entitled ; '■'■■Elections Mexicaines " ( * ), in which, after 
having shown in a few words why no person should be preferred to 
Santa Anna for the office of President, I opened a discussion of a 

more serious nature on this thesis: " But let Santa Anna, 

or Minerva herself, be the new Mexican President, he will do neither 
more nor better than his predecessors, should he be condemned to 
govern under the actual Constitution of the country, which has in its 
bosom the most prolific seeds of its own destruction." I then pointed 
out both those seeds, and the means, to which a chief in possession 
of the most unbounded national confidence, as Santa Anna was, 
could and ought to resort. I threw pearls before swine; but at all 
events, I thought to have rendered a great service both to Santa 
Anna and the Mexican Nation. 

February/, 1833. — A copy of the ''Convention of Zavaleta" came 
now to hand, with the news that the Libertador Santa Anna had 
retired, soon after having ratified it, to his farm Manga-de-Clabo, 
three leagues from Vera Cruz; and the TJsurpador Bustamante had 
left Pedraza the presidency for the three months balance of its 
quadriennial term. But, on my perceiving the poisonous defects of 
that military document, I was convinced that the reign of Santa 
Anna, should he be elected President, could prove neither glorious, 
nor of long duration. The lively and sincere interest 1 felt for him 
and his country (for I had hitherto had to complain but of a Pre- 
sident and some Ministers there), again placed the pen in my hands, 
and in two other numbers of the ''Bee," of February, 1833 ( * ), 
with the usual anoymous signature X. Y. Z., I gave to the public, 
and sent immediately to Santa Anna at his farm, my " Considera- 
tions sur la Convention de Zavaleta.'' This was, perhaps, the 
most important homage offered by me to my true friend. He 
would have found in those Considerations every desirable suggestion 
to prevent all future national calamities, had he had some instruc- 
tion, some firmness and true patriotic intentions. 

Twenty-fourth March, 1833. — After a tedious passage of sixteen 
days, I entered the port of Vera Cruz, on the 24th of March, in the 
morning, the very day in which the local press announced the elec- 
tion of Santa Anna to the presidency, by seventeen State Legislatures 
against three, and of Valentin Gomez Farias for the Vice Presi- 
dency, as resulted from the returns which were opened in Mexico, 
some days earlier than was contemplated. An officer of police came 
on board, collected the passports of all the passengers, and went on 



70 

shore. My passport had been countersigned also by the Mexican 
Consul in New- Or leans, Seiior F. Pizarro Martinez; but it was not 
rendered to me until late in the afternoon ; and then I was permitted 
to land, with the order of presenting myself immediately to the Go- 
vernor of the State, Seiior Juillie. I went accordingly, and his 
Excellency told me very poh'tf ly, that on account of my having been 
banished in 1826, and of his having no order to permit my intro- 
duction in the Republic, / ought to stop in that city and wait for 
superior determinations. In vain I exhibited to him the documents, 
which I had the precaution to carry with me, showing that my 
return to Mexico was authorized by three Presidents, Guerrero, 
Pedraza, and Santa Anna. In vain I observed to him that I had not 
been jiulicially banished ; that I was actually a citizen of the United 
States under a treaty, which permitted no arbitrary proceedings 
against my person ; that my passport, issued from my own Govern- 
ment, was authorized also by the two Mexican Consuls of New- 
York, and New-Orleans, &c. In vain also I asked the permission 
to go and pay a short visit to m.y old friend General Santa Anna, at 
his farm in the vicinity of the city. His Excellency seemed to me 
as laboring under a secret force, which obliged him to resist all my 
solicitations against his own will : he had already received instruc- 
tions from my true friend during my .stay on board I was 

therefore compelled to stop there, and took lodgings at Mr. Fulton's, 
an American gentleman, who offered us kindly his hospitality. He 
was cohabiting with the owner of the house, Mr. Doucet, a French 
physician, who received us also courteously. The Governor imme- 
diately despatched an express to Manga-de-Clabo. 

With a letter of this same date, 24th of March, I communicated 
this disagreeable disappointment to my friend Seiior Zavala, then 
again Governor of the State of Mexico, residing in Toluca, solicit- 
ing his active interference. We shall soon see his answer. 

Twenty-fifth of March, 1833.— Next day, 25th of March, before 
sunrise, I sent the Professor of Chemistry, my fellow-traveller, to 
General Santa Anna, Avith a note informing him of my arrival, my 
detention, ray impatience to see him, &c. The messenger was coolly 
received, and the answer he brought back to me was the follow- 
ing: 

" Manga-de-Clabo, March 25th, 1833. 
*■' Senor O. de a. Santangelo: 

" My highly appreciated Friend : Your favor, which has 
been handed to me to day by Don Angel Binaghi, whom you re- 
commend to me, has filled me with joy^ by having informed me of 
your hafpy arrival at Vera Cruz, whence you and said recommend- 
ed gentleman may dispose of my inutility in serving you in every 
possible way. My occupations for the present, and my infirmities, 
do not permit me to write to my friend Senor Pedraza about your 
advancing into the interior of the country ; but I intend to do so by 
the next mail [when Pedraza ought to cease to be President]. In 



71 

the mean time you can remain in Vera Cruz, where, / believe, you 
will not meet with any obstacle that might trouble your tranquillity, 
I desire that you may pass your time agreeably in company with 
your lady, whose feet I kiss, and dispose of your very affectionate 
friend and assured servant, who kisses your hands. 

'' A. L. DE Santa Anna." ( 94 ) 

Twenty-ninth of March, 1833. — The loveliness of that note could 
not conceal from ray eyes the perfidy of the writer. " He does not 
come to see me ; he does not allow me to go and see him ; he has no 
time, no health to write to President Pedi aza for my advancing into 

the country Why? because the Governor Juillie has already 

informed him that I have the permission of Pedraza in my pocket; 
.... because Pedraza is to leave the presidency within five days (the 

1st of April), and then my fate will be in his own hands He 

advises me to rernain in Vera Cruz, where, he believes, that I would 
meet with no obstacles He believes ! Is he then not deter- 
mined to maintain my rights ? Obstacles ! Has he no power to 
remove them ? Yet, whilst a simple General, he repeatedly wrote 
to me that my return to Mexico was permitted : has he lost now all 
power whilst a President, a conqueror, an omnipotent national idol? 
He now offers me his ' inutility.' Bah ! Don Antonio must have 
a very low opinion of my judgment. He is now in his chrysalis ; 
he is changing coat, and Avishes not to blush in my pre- 
sence." It was in this strain of fancy that I was soliloquiz- 
ing ; and although not in the least disposed to intermingle in his 
political or impolitical speculations, still I was evidently in danger. 
No doubt, under the pi'etext of his not having yet entered into office, 
he proposed to have me again out of the Republic through his Vice 
President Farias. I had then no time to lose. 1 addressed a peti- 
tion to the Government, dated 29th of March, containing an extract 
of the documents of the permission obtained from Presidents Guer- 
rero, Pedraza, and Santa Anna, and representing my quality of citi- 
zen of the United States, the legality of my passport, &c. ; and I had 
this petition published in the '' Censor," of the following day, 30th 
March, through the following note to its editors: 

''Messrs. Editors of the Censor:' The Mexican libera:ls 
know that in July, 1 826, President Victoria made me quit this Re- 
public, as the author of a little work, which was not understood, on 
the " Congress of Panama." It now seems necessary that they 
should also know in virtue of what authorization I have arrived at 
this port, and for what purpose. Deign, then, to insert in your ap- 
preciable columns the enclosed petition, which I have addressed to 
his Excellency the President of the Republic, soliciting the permis- 
sion to proceed into the interior, as I am detained here by his Ex- 
cellency the Governor of the State," &c. ( 95 ) 

Thirteenth of April, 1833. — Several journals of the capital re- 
published my memorial to the Government, and still there was no 



72 

resolution taken. In the mean time my suspicions about the defec- 
tion of Santa Anna were confirmed by the fact of his being daily 
visited at his farm by a great number of notable Escoceces, and 
priests, monks, marchionesses, countesses, &c. ; and by certain ex- 
pressions of the Commandant- General of the State, Don Ciriaco 
Vasquez, whom I had visited in Vera Cruz, trying to obtain through, 
him the permission of paying a visit to my true friend, to Avhom I 
addressed on the 6th of the same month a letter somewhat urgent 
on the subject of my detention, which was answered, not before the 
13th, as follows: 

•'My esteemed Friend: Informed of the occurrences [what 
occurrences?] posterior to your arrival at the port, whence you have 
communicated them to me in your favor of the 6th instant, I wrote 
by the last mail to the Supreme Government, that it may permit 
you to advance into the interior of the Republic, as your appearance 
at its gates cannot be deemed to be a violation of its laws, on account 
of Seiior Pedraza, as well as myself, having told you that you could 
do so. I believe that said order will soon come and enable you 
freely to dedicate yourself to the foundation of your establishment 
of education. I return you my thanks for your congratulations and 
affectionate expressions, with which you favor me in another letter 
of the same date ; and I make the same to your lady, whose feet I 
kiss. In the mean time I wish you good health, and beg you to 
order what you please from your affectionate friend and assured 
iservant, who kisses your hands. 

^' A. L. DE Santa Anna." ( 96 

Sixteenth of April, 1833. — Zavala now awoke from his lethargy, 
and in answer to my communication of the 24th ultimo, wrote me 
the following: 

"ToLucA, April I6th, 1833. 

" My very esteemed Friend : A few days ago I had the plea- 
sure to receive your appreciated letter of the 24th ultimo, and, in- 
formed of its contents, 1 have to express to you how painful have 
proved to me the disappointments you have experienced at your arri- 
val at Vera Cruz. In consideration of this, I write under this same 
date to the actual President, that he may destroy the obstacles which 
may exist to your coming here. I say here, because I inform him 
that I am myself he who has caused you to come to this Republic, 
to establish a college in this State. This seems to me to be the 
best means which I can use to shelter you from prejudices, and en- 
able you to come here without delay, and realize your plans, from 
which must undoubtedly result a good to the nation. Be persuaded 
that, had it depended from me, you would not have had to suffer tht. 
damage of remaining until now in that port^'' &c. ( 97 ) 

Ticenty-first of April, 1833. — Santa Anna, having now no fur- 
ther means to give a color of justice to the obstacles he had secretly 



73 

attempted to oppose to my advancing into the interior of the Repub- 
lic, could no longer avoid to receive a visit from me. I was in- 
formed of his friendly condescension by the Commandant- General 
Vasquez, on the 20th of April; and on the following day, 21st, he 
came at daybreak, according to our rendezvous, to take me and my 
wife in his carriage. On our arrival at Manga-de-Clabo, the Pre- 
sident was not in ; he had gone to visit his cattle around his farm. 
Introduced to his lady, v/e found a poor simple female, who, on 
being presented by my wife with a handsome English work-case 
and a fashionable fan, could not say, " I thank you." The arrival 
of His Excellency was announced, I ran heartily to embrace him ; 
he told me smiling : " Good morning, sir ; how are you ; walk in ;" 
and on our entering his rustic parlor, he sat down in an immense old 
arm-chair, and began to read the journals just arrived from the capi- 
tal. A tall gentleman came now to show him a cock ; " Let us try 
him," said he, and leaving me unceremoniously alone, went to wit- 
ness in his park a cock-fight. Called to the breakfast, he placed 
my wife on his right at table, and myself on his left. His father- 
in-law, the gentleman of the cock, a Doctor Pages, Gen. Vasquez, 
a young aid-de-camp, another Seiior^who appeared to be an aman- 
uensis, v/ere with us. During the breakfast, consisting of stewed 
kidney, milk and tortillas, silence Avas not interrupted, but by some 
awkward compliments addressed by the modest maid to my v/ife. 
I studied his face, and found in it the expression of a timid treachery. 
The breakfast being over, we all retired to the parlor of the cottage, 
where he found some new visitors, and soon engaged in a long non- 
sensical talk with them. I went to smoke a segar in the park, and 
asked my wife w^hether she felt strong enough to accompany me 
forthwith, on foot, back to Vera Cruz. She understood ; she read 
my feelings in my countenance ; and with a happy eloquence in- 
duced me to witness with a stoical firmness the last development of 
the scene. I did not again see my true friend until at dinner, 
during which I tried to engage a conversation on the mysterious 
maction of the Government on my account. He then, after having 
told me in a low voice, '' I have written to it again in your favor," 
loudly exclaimed : '' Eh, Senor de Santangelo, listed tiene muchos 
enemigos en Mejico," — (Eh, Mr. Santangelo, you have many ene- 
mies in Mexico) — wishing to insinuate that if some harm was done 
to me, the blame should not be attributed to him; which recalled to 
me the common motto : Accusalio nan petita, accusatio manifesta. 
My reply was : " I know it, but I know also that Santa Anna is the 
Mexican President." To this he answered by offering gracefully 
my wife some fried squash. After dinner, I expressed to him my 
desire of having a tete-a-tete. He led me to a corner of the yard, 
and I began : 

Myself — Have you received, sir, seven numbers of the Bee, 
which 1 have of late addressed to you from New-Orleans? 

President — Which ? 
10 



74 

Myself — Those containing your biographjr, a parallel between 
you and Buslamante, a dissertation on Mexican elections, and some 
considerations on the Convention of Zavaleta. 

President — No, sir. 

Myself — Here you have them (drawing them from my pocket) ; 
and allow me to read you only a few lines about Mexican elections. 
(I read) "But let Santa Anna, or Minerva herself, be the new Pre- 
sident of Mexico, he will do neither more, nor better, than his pre- 
decessors, should he be condemned to govern under the actual Con- 
stitution of the country, which has " 

President — Pages [calling his physician], take these papers, and 
tell Gonzales [the editor of the Censor] to have the articles relating 
to me and Mexico, translated into Spanish, and published in his 
paper. 

3Iyself— When will you start for the capital ? 

President — Towards the end of this month (April). 

Myself — Am 1 certain to be enabled to see you there ? 

President — Most assuredly ; and if you could suggest some 
speedy means (ardides) to re-invigorate our finances .... 

Myself — Impossible. No general principles of political economy 
can be properly applied to the peculiar situation of a State, without 
a thorough knowledge of it. Could the archives of your Depart- 
ment of Hacienda (Finances) be placed under my inspection? 

Preside7it — We will treat of this in Mexico. 

Myself — I hope I will be able to precede you. 

President — [Turning towards my wife] — " Si, Seiiorita, pronto 
nos veremos en Mejico." (Yes, madam, we shall soon see each 
other again in Mexico.) 

Myself — Indeed, sir, my long and unaccountable stay in Vera 
Cruz has caused, and is causing me, much damage. 

President — By and by you will retrieve all losses .... 

Here we were called by General Vasquez to enter his carriage, 
and go back to Vera Cruz. 

Twenty-sixth of April, 1833. — The following official communica- 
tion came to hand in the morning of the 26th of April : 

"Political Department of Vera Cruz. 

" His Excellency the Governor, in date of yesterday, has forward- 
ed to me the. following note, with an official communication of the 
20th instant. His Excellency the Secretary of State and Relations, 
says the following: 

" ' Most excellent Sir : His Excellency the Vice President 
(Farias) has been informed, by the note of your Excellency, of the 
arrival of the foreigner O. de A. Santangelo at Vera Cruz; but, as 
this individual left the Republic in virtue of an order of the Supreme 
Government, and the latter having no sufficient data which could 
legalize his introduction in the Republic, His Excellency Jiad not 
been pleased to answer your Excellency in conformity with the 



■76 

wishes of said foreigner Santangelo. But, informed now of his iiav- 
ing- obtained sufRcient guaranties to be enabled to introduce himself, 
and reside in the Mexican territory, His Excellency the Vice Pre- 
sident directs me to tell your Excellency that his introduction can 
be permitted. I insert it to your Excellency for your intelligence 
and corresponding effects.' 

" I translate it to you for your government, that you may apply 
when you please to this office to get the corresponding passport. 
" God and Liberty. 

" Joaquin de Munos y Muifos." ( 98 ) 

"To Seiior O. de A. Santangelo." 

NoTA. — From the facts hitherto stated and unquestionably proved, 
it^ clearly appears that Santa Anna, notwithstanding his constant 
kissing of hands and feet in his meUifluous letters, was never ray 
friend but for the purpose of making me his secretary, agent or tool, 
for his ambitious projects, covered with the mask of the most refined 
hypocrisy. That I never received, directly or indirectly, the slight- 
est favor or recommendation from him. That if in his letter of the 
21st of October, 1829, he wrote me that there could be no objection 
to my return to Mexico, dpc, it was because General Guerrero was 
at that period the President, and I had already obtained from him 
the permission I was soliciting, without his interference. That, on 
the contrary, he was indebted to me for hard literary labors, heavy 
expenses, and services of the highest value in his own behalf, with 
the sacrifice of my personal tranquillity. And that, on my appear- 
ing again on the Mexican shores, he ceased to be my false friend, 
only to become my most determined, although secret, enemy, waiting 
for an opportunity to throw away his mask, and consummate the 
work of my complete ruin. This for the present. 

Twenty-ninth of April, 1833. — The publication of the articles 
of the '' Bee," committed by Santa Anna to the '' Censor," was secret- 
ly countermanded, as they were written for the chief magistrate of a 
Federal Republic, and by no means for a military dictator. Inform- 
ed of it, I withdrew those papers from the office of the Censor, 
Leaving now with Mr. Thomas Savage, an American commis- 
sion merchant, my piano, and the fifteen packages of books, and 
other objects destined for the projected lyceum, t'o be forwarded to 
me in Mexico, through the usual commercial means of transport I 
started on the 29th of April, for the capital, with my family and our 
personal luggage, in one of the stages of the line, established there 
by American enterprisers, between Vera Cruz and Mexico, and with 
no other reliance for protection but on my quality of American citi- 
zen, and on the article xiv of the treaty of the 5th of April, 1831, 
between the two nations. 

In Puebla I had the pleasure to take supper with Generals Arago, 
Valencia and Mexia. The latter, who was also a Senator, offered 
me his house in Mexico, and I accepted it for a short time. He then 



76 

favored me with a letter for his wife, an English lady, and I con- 
tinued early next morning, my journey. 

Third of May, 1833. — I entered Mexico in the afternoon of the 
3d of May, and was kindly received by Mrs. Mexia, I went next 
day to pay my respects to the Vice President Farias, acting Presi- 
dent, whom, by Avay of jest, 1 thanked for having obliged me to 
wait thirty-six days in Vera Cruz for his permission to advance into 
the interior. ''Amigo mio," he replied mysteriously, " no tengo yo la 
culpa." (My friend, it has not been my fault.) I understood; he 

was right Farias, I know him personally, is a man 

of honor. He promised, however, to do every thing in his power 
for the establishment of my lyceum. I visited likewise the Charge 
of the United States, Colonel Butler, who retained my passport, and 
obtained for me from the Government the " letters of protection" 
(carta de seguridad), according to the established regulations. By 
that proceeding, the Government was officially mioxmeA. that I was 
a citizen of the United States^ under the safeguard of the treaty 
of 1831. This fact has been certified also by the Consul of the 
United States there, Mr. Wm. S. Parrott. 

In those days President Santa Anna made his appearance in the 
capital, having on his left the flimous priest Ramos Arispe, whom 
he had appointed his Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastic Affairs, 
and whom he had charged with maledictions in 1826, as one of the 
principal authors of my banishment. 

General Mexia came home also, and took his seat in the Senate ; 
he had offered to present and support before that body, my claim for 
the redress of the injuries and affronts caused to me by that banish- 
ment, as soon as things had taken a regular course. This moment 
never arrived. 

In consequence of the most diligent investigations about the fate 
of the eleven hundred copies of my " Congress of Panama," I had 
left with Mr. Dick, I was apprized that since 1829, he had departed 
for London in a manner little honorable to a merchant. I had then 
derived not even one-third of the expenses of the publication of my 
book, which ought to have produced a benefit of six thousand dol- 
lars, between the copies which disappeared through the hands of 
Dick, and others. 

My fifteen packages arrived from Vera Cruz, for the freight of 
which I paid to the muleteer loaquin Acosta, one hundred and six- 
ty-five dollars. ( 99 ) 

A little later I was notified to pay, and I paid, to the order of 
the hospitable Fulton, of Vera Cruz, two hundred and fifty-two dol- 
lars for thirty-six days boarding and lodging in the house of Dr. 
Doucet, at seven dollars per diem for myself, my wife, the profes- 
sor of chemistry Dr. Binaghi, and my chamber-maid. I complained 
of this exaction to Dr. Doucet, who answered me under date of the 
18th of May: " I am scandalized at the covetousness of Mr. Ful- 
ton ; he always made me understand that he was giving you an 



77 

amicable hospitality, as is generally practised here ; but, as he avails 
of my house to make an inn of it, I will see to putting this affair to 
rights." ( 100 ) He did nothing. My piano also arrived on one of 
the wagons of the conducta, returning empty from Vera Cruz to 
Mexico, for which I paid the freight of one hundred and ten dollars 
and twenty-five cents, at the usual rate of four dollars and fifty cents 
per arroba; it weighed twenty-four and a half arrobas. (101) Finally 
I was obliged to pay ten dollars for the transport of two matresses, 
which I had left with Dr. Jose Maria Perez, in Xalapa, on my way 
from Vera Cruz to Mexico, the stage having refused to carry them 
farther than that town. ( 1 02 ) 

First of June, 1833. — After having obtained the approbation of 
several influential persons to my plan for the foundation of the 
lyceum in contemplation, I published its " Prospectus," under date 
of the 1st of June, entitled: " Lyceum Azteque, under the direc- 
tion of O. de A. Santangelo, a citizen of the United StatesJ' The 
prospectus began thus: "To place within the reach of the Mexican 
youth a physical, moral and scientific education, consonant with the 
principles adopted in this Republic ; to free parents from the neces- 
sity of sending their children to distant countries in search of know- 
ledge, at great expense and with but little certainty of good success; 
to establish a centre of uniform public instruction, that may contribute 
to the creation and promotion of a national spirit, the only means 
to render effective the advantages of the federal syst'cm ; behold the 
considerations which have determined the foundation of the Lyceum 
Azteque in this Federal city." 

And it was concluded as follows: 

"It will perhaps not be useless to inform the public that this 
prospectus, highly recommended by Senores Lorenzo de Zavala, 
Jose Maria Tornel, Jose Antonio Mexia, and approved by Senores 
Valentin Gomez Farias, Crecencio Rejon, Ignacio Basadre, has just 
been submitted by its author to the high consideration of His Excel- 
lency the President of the Republic (Santa Anna), through His Ex- 
cellency the Minister of Relations." ( 103 ) The President however 
turned a deaf ear to it. The principles of federalism, expressed 
in it, were too much at variance with his central, dictatorial, mo- 
narchical or imperial projects ; and the banishment of the author was 
already decreed in his truly friendly heart. 

Twenty-sixth of June, 1833. — Governor Zavala addressed to the 
President, under date of the 29th of June, this confidential letter: 

" Public interest, which has always been the object of your views, 
comes now in support of a learned foreigner, a victim to the cause 
of liberty. Mr. Santangelo, protected in other times by us, wishes 
now to establish a college on the basis of solid instruction. The 
greatest good which might be done to our country, is to lead her on 
the road of knowledge. This gentleman asks but a building and a 
small sum. Either the college of • Santos,' or the hotel of ' Direc- 
tion,' would well answer the purpose. Add to so many titles which 



78 

you have already acquired to immortality and the remembrance of 
posterity, this new proof of your love for the country and her pro- 
gress. I dare to hope that within three months, you will see the 
wonderful effects of such an establishment. On my part, I do the 
same in my State," &c.( * ) 

Under the same date, Governor Zavala wrote to Senator. Rejon : 

'' I believe you are informed of the project of Mr. Santangelo, to 
establish a college on the basis of a sound instruction. You are, 
no doubt, aware that the best means to destroy our clerical colleges, 
is to put them in comparison with those where useful knowledge is 
imparted to man. I think that should they give Mr. Santangelo the 
building called 'College of Santos,' and a limited sum of money, 
they would render a service to the country. He will doubtless meet 
the opposition of the ancient Seminarists, Ildefonsinos, Latranistas, 
&c. J3ut now is the time to disperse prejudices and interests op- 
posed to public welfare," &c. ( *) 

Twenty-ninth of June, 1833. — General Tornel, Minister of War, 
wrote also to the Secretary of State, Minister of Relations, under 
date of 29th of June, thus: 

'' My well known interest for the progress of education, and your 
own not less so, encourage me to recommend to you very particu- 
larly the project of Mr. Santangelo. My earnestness arises from 
the desire I have to place two of my children in this establishment. 
I just learn that, on account of the departure of Colonel Don Eulogio 
Villaurrutia and his family, the house No. 1. Perpetua Street, is dis- 
occupied; it would well answer the purpose, and is a national pro- 
perty," &c. ( * ) 

Fifteenth of July, 1833. — In June last a Lieutenant-Colonel 
Escalada, with three hundred men of infantry, secretly moved by 
Santa Anna, and soon followed by General Duran at the head of 
four hundred horsemen, took the field, proclaiming "Centralism, Re- 
ligion, and Dictator." Santa Anna asked and obtained from Con- 
gress, the permission to march himself in person against the rebels. 
During his march, with a strong division of troops, General Arista, 
his second, arrested him, because he would not become a dictator ! 
From the beginning of this truly childish and ridiculous farce, there 
was for a long time no tranquillity in the country. Presideiit Santa 
Anna, now arrested, now released, now marching again without 
ever encountering the enemy, now suspending his operations on ac- 
count of the cholera rnorbus, now retreating to recruit his health or 
procure money, and always fomenting the revolutionary move- 
ment all over the Republic, through his numerous relatives, aids-de- 
camp, and agents of all classes, especially members of the church, 
to get a dictatorship which he protested highly to abhor, had left the 
reins of the Government to the Vice President Farias, an honest 
patriot, prescribing him to adopt measures of rigor against the par- 
tisans of the revolt, and accusing hun at the same time of tyrannical 
conduct ! ! ! 



79 

I had, then, to address myself to Vice President Farias, soliciting 
a locality for the establishment of my lyceum, and I received from 
his Secretary of State Seiior Garcia, under date of the 15lh of Jiilv, 
the following official communication : 

" First Secretary OF State, ) 

Department of the Interior. \ 

" Under this date I communicate to His Excellency the Secretary 
of Finances, the following : 

'"Most excellent Sir: His Excellency the Vice President 
has ordered that the ' Convent of Carailos,' having no friars, be 
rented to Don O. de A. Santangelo, for the establishment of education 
he proposes to direct, this Secretary indicating the re?it: to be paid 
by him, either in cash, or in compensation by the children with 
whose education he might be trusted by the Government; it beino- 
understood that in said edifice shall be comprised the ball alley, the 
church remaining at the charge and under the care of the ecclesiastic 
who is now charged with it, quite independent from the literary es- 
tablishment, its director being only permitted, should he solicit it to 
have an interior communication to cause his alumni to attend to the 
relations, obligations and practices ; for the effect of which, and for 
what may concern this subject, I transmit this communication to the 
Minister of Justice.' 

" And I transcribe it to you for your information, in the intelligence 
that said establishment, being merely private or particular, the Su- 
preme Government shall have no other interference in it than that 
which may belong to it in others of a like nature; and therefore 
the above mentioned rent of the building shall he collected according 
to the terms specified in the annexed order. 

" God and Liberty. Garcia. 

"Mexico, July I5th, 1833. 
'• To O. de A. Santangelo." ( 104 ) 

Seventeenth of July, 1833. — The Secretary of Finances, Senor 
Bocanegra, conformably with the preceding note from the Secre- 
tary of the Interior, Seiior Garcia, exacted from me immediately my 

offers I presented them on the 17th of July (105), and 

they were sent for consideration or execution to the Commissary 
General of the District, Seiior Esnaurizzar, a Saracen name to 
which the adage Respo?ident rebus nomina scape suis, could be with 
propriety applied. Hostile both to all public instruction, and to 
foreigners (to me, perhaps, in a superlative degree), he rejected all 
offers, and dictated conditions utterly inadmissible. In vain I had 
the patience of daily ascending the stairs of the palace during a 
whole month. In speaking with Garcia, Bocanegra, or Farias I 
was always right ; but the Saracen made them tremble : he had re- 
ceived, no doubt, some instructions from my true friend. ...... 

Still, I courngsously submitted to his conditions, and the notary 
public, Senor Iglesias, was charged to draw up the corresponding 



80 

agreement between the Mexican Government, as the mcner of the 
'' Convent of Camilos," and myself as the tenant; and before the 
signature of it, 1 was nohly trusted with the keys and the furniture 
of the Convent, possibly in the hope that I would dispose, without a 
legal authorization, wholly or partly, of that furniture, and thus give 
room to an impeachment against my person. 

Twentieth of August^ 1833. — Called, at last, to the signature of 
the writing, I found on it an additional condition, never spoken of 
before, and purporting that " in case that the Government had to 
restore the Convent to the ' Camilos,' I ought to receive from it an 
equivalent local." The Government, said I, is not therefore the true 

owner of the Convent The friars can expel me from it 

whenever they please I shall have, consequently, to lose 

the enormous expenses I shall have met to give an old and half 

ruined Convent the form of a decent house of education My 

alumni, not contented with another abode, will desert me 

On these considerations, I refused my signature, and was soon after 
ordered, on the 20th of August, to deliver the furniture ( 106 ), which 
was found intact. I was afterwards judicially condemned to pay to 
the notary nine dollars for a contract not stipulated, and not broken 
by me. Thus ended all transaction for the college, and all protec- 
tion. The whole history of this affair is related in a supplement 
to the " Columna." ( * ) A periodical of Tampico bitterly censured 
the shameful inconsistency of that Government in this instance. 
Cui bono ? Governments can tremble but never blush. 

Seventh of September, 1833. — Abandoned to myself, and com- 
pelled to draw from my own brain an honest livelihood, I solicited 
from the Government of the District, then Gen. Martinez, the per- 
mission of opening in my house a course of political economy and 
foreign languages ; and I obtained it in the following terms, which 
will likely appear to free people somewhat eccentric : 

" Ignacio Martinez, General of Brigade, Governor of the Federal 
District : I grant license to Don Orazio Attellis Santangelo, a citizen 
of the Northern United States, to open and maintain in this capital a 
school of foreign languages, and a course of political economy. There- 
fore, I order all civil and military authorities not to oppose any 
embarassment in the use of this license, but on the contrary to protect, 
and cause to be protected the pre'eminences and exemptions proper 
for so recommendable an occupation. 

" Given in Mexico, on the 7th of September, 1833. 

'' Ignacio Martinez. 

''Joaquin Ramirez Espana, Secretary." ( 107) 

I then hired the large house just vacated by Colonel Butler, and 
inhabited before him by the Secretary of State, Garcia, to whom I was 
obliged to pay, by order of Mr. Butler, a trespass of five hundred 
and twenty dollars, in exchange for an old carpet and two window 
curtains. 

Second of October^ 1833. — The noblest sex not being extremely 



81 

fond of study in Mexico, I thought it to be more advisable to have an 
academy of young ladies, under the direction of Mrs. Santangelo, 
She applied for a license, which was granted, as follows : 

'' Ignacio Martinez, General of Brigade, and Governor of the 
Federal District — Dona Marietta Santangelo, having been examined 
by the Committee of Education of Primary Instruction of the most 
excellent Ayuntamiento, and she being capable for the office of in- 
structress, as said Committee reports and notifies this Government, 
she can from this time establish a school proper for her sex, for 
which I grant her this license. Accordingly I order the subaltern 
authorities of the district, and entreat the ecclesiastic and military 
to protect, and cause to be protected, the favors and pre-eminences 
due to an occupation so praiseworthy and necessary. 

*• Given in Mexico, October 2d, 1833. 

"Martinez. 
"JoA-QTiiN Ramirez Espana, Secretary.'' ( 108 ) 

NoTA. — To understand why the civil, ecclesiastic and military 
favor is necessary to open a school in Mexico, we should know that 
the Mexican Government is in fact a triceps apud inferos Cerberus ; 
the religious, the civil and the military authority. The religious 
laughs at the other two, for, without being observed, it moves ad 
Libitum all the individual minds, hearts and wills of the people ; 
so that the three political powers, legislative, executive and judicial,' 
are virtually subservient to the edict of a bishop. The civil, which 
ought solely to govern, either knows not how, or does not dare ; the 
pronunciaviiento of a corporal, or the sermon of a capuchin, makes 
it tremble, paralyzes it, and leads it to criminal or foolish deeds. 
And the military leagues itself now with the civil to check the reli- 
gious, now with the religious to subdue the civil, and, always certain 
of impunity, nay of rewards, it often beats them both, and places 
despotism on the Republican throne. Santa Anna is the man whose 
skill in the exercise of the latter power is inimitable. In Mexico 
the soldiery is every thing ; the people nothing at all. 

Twenty-fifth of May, 1834.— Foreign, nay, adverse to all poli- 
tical concerns, to all civil dissensions, which were tearing that badly 
constructed social edifice to atoms, I displayed exclusively all my 
energy to aid Mrs. Santangelo in the organization of her academy, 
and the truly solid instruction of her pupils ; and, by a singular 
coincidence, on the same day, 25th of May, 1834, in which that 
famous Plan de Cuernavaca was proclaimed, which proved to be 
the corner stone of centralism, aiming to elevate a military dictator- 
ship on the ruins of the federal system, an examination of our pupils 
took place, which astonished their parents and the public, and pro- 
mised both to my institute fame and durability, and to myself a splendid 
fortune. This institute being the same which has been contempt- 
uously designated in the documents of the second session of the 25th 
Congress of the United States, marked No. 3, as a school for young 



82 

women, I must bt permitted to give here a more exact idea of it, by 
inserting an extract of what several parents (varies padres de familia), 
published in a Supplement to the " Telegraph," of Mexico, No. 79, 
vol. V, about the examination in question. They said : 

'•Messrs. Editors of the Telegraph: 

" The interesting spectacle which we have witnessed on the 25th 
instant, in the Institute of Mrs. Marietta de Santangelo, No. 13, Re- 
fugio street, imposes on us the obligation of addressing to you a 
succinct relation of facts, which cannot fail to attract the attention of 
all lovers and protectors of instruction. We do it with confidence, 
certain that you will consider this less as a personal communication, 
than as a document of the progress of knowledge amongst us, and, 
at the same time, as an unquestionable evidence of the great aptness 
of our youth of both sexes to excel in all kinds of knowledge, whea 
directed by competent instructors. Through a circular of the 12th 
of this month, which was found in the ' Phoenix' of the 15th, we 
Avere invited to attend, on the 25th, a 'private examination,' to 
which Mrs. Santangelo proposed to subject the youth of both sexes 
under her tuition, stating, among other things: ' The object of these 
private examinations, besides an annual public one, is but the repe- 
tition which the pupils make in presence of their parents, of what 
they have learned within the four preceding months, as I think it 
improper that the interested parties should remain a whole year in 
ignorance of the result of their noble efforts and sacrifices for the 
education of their children.' We were in attendance, then, at the 
rendezvous; and without making the least mention here of the great 
decency and admirable order, which reigned during the perform- 
ance, the distinguished talents and the noble kindness of the direct- 
ress being notorious, let us go to the substance. The assembly was 
presided over by General Don Pedro Anaya, and Senator Don Man- 
uel Aguilera. Mrs. Santangelo addressed it in a speech in the Cas- 
tilian language, perfectly pronounced, demonstrating the wrong of 
those who judge learning to be a useless or prejudicial ingredient in 
the education of women. ' In fact,' added she, 'it would be very easy 
to convince them that a scientific education, excepting that which, 
with regard to men, is called professional or facultative, is in many 
respects more convenient to women then to men themselves; and I 
regret that the object of this brilhant meeting allows me only to state, 
that I am proud of the success of my few months' labor in behalf 

of the amiable young ladies who honor my school And, 

in relation to this, you will take into consideration, I trust, that out 
of the thirty-eight youths present at this my first private examina- 
tion, only three entered my school in the last days of September of 
last year, when my institute was opened ; six came in October fol- 
lowing, four in December, twelve in January of this year, four in 
February, three in March, five in April, and one in the present 
month of May; and as to the state of instruction in which they 



83 

came from other schools to mine, you cannot be ignorant of it,' <fee. 
On this occasion a statement was read to the assembly, 
showing the age of each pupil present, the number of schools which 
they had attended before, the number of years they had spent in 
them, the day of their admission to that of Mrs. Santangelo, the 
absolute want of instruction in which almost all of them found 
themselves at their entrance, and the studies they were actually 
pursuing. The case of Miss Manuela Aguilera caused the utmost 
sensation. She had never known the letters of the alphabet, nor 
the numbers; she had never taken a pen in her hands, nor had she 
ever been to any school; and, in the course of only two months she 
had learned, in this institute, reading, writing, the four operations of 
arithmetic, in dollars, reals and grains, and much of the French lan- 
guage, geography and embroidery. Senator Aguilera, one of the 
Presidents, then enthusiastically exclaimed : ' Y de esto soy buen 
testigo yo, yo que soy su padre:' (and I myself am a good witness of 
this; I who am her father)." 

It also appears from said "Supplement," that the examination fell 
on the following branches : " Castilian reading and writing. Arith- 
metic; fractions, rule of three, of society, interest, discount, problems, 
&c. Moral philosophy. Castilian grammar. Complete course of 
astronomy in its relation with our globe. Physical and political 
geography, ancient and modern, limited to the north of Europe, 
General division of Europe; its states, capitals, governments, &c. 
French; words, phrases, dialogues, reading and translations ex 
tempore, detached and declamatory pieces, &c. English dialogue. 
Christian doctrine. Music; Spanish, Enghsh and Italian singing. 
Embroidery, &c. ; the whole followed by a distribution of prizes." 
(109) 

This institute, pronounced generally to be the best of the kind in 
the Mexican Union, had in the course of said year 1834, the follow- 
ing pupils: 2 of the family Arellano; 2 Aguilera; 1 Aguirre; 2 
Archer; lArguelles; IBerra; 2Barrientos; 2 Barbadillo; 1 Brad- 
burn ; 5 Corral ; 1 Codallos ; 1 Cumplido ; 1 Campardon ; 6 Es- 
chemburg ; 1 Estrada ; I Forster ; 1 Fresni ; 2 Georges ; 3 Gon- 
zales ; 1 Gonzaga ; 1 Guerra ; 3 Gamboa ; 1 Heim ; 4 Heras ; I 
Jessy ; I Lozano ; 1 Lisca -^ I Mendizaba ; 2 Mora ; 1 Marino ; 1 
Mozo^ 2Marsan; i Menocal ; 2 Nieto ; 2 Nava; I Oyarzun ; 2 
Piedras; 1 Prado; 1 Paoli; 2 Palacios; 2 Paris; I Paulet;2Pao- 
lin ; 1 Pignatelli; 1 Perez; 1 Robiedo; 1 Sevilla; I Saborio; 1 
Santa Anna (Jose Antonio) ; 1 Salas; 3 Stavoii; I Smith; 4 Tagle; 
2 Vitalba; 2 Wilson. — In all ninety-three pupils. This was my 
school of young women ! ! 1 

Twenty-seventh of May, 1834. — I had hitherto never seen again 
my true friend Santa Anna, nor had I thought of him, when, on the 
27th of May, whilst I was taking my dinner. Col. Menocal came to 
tell me that the President wanted to see me forthwith. I took my 
hat and followed the Colonel to the palace. I found his Excellency 



84 

at table with a dozen of persons unknown to me, except Gen. Cas- 
trillon, one of his aides-de-camp. He, without any preliminary 
compliment, told me gravely to take a chair, which I did frankly, 
and the following dialogue took place : 

President — I am told that you have a school. 

Myself— Yes Sir. 

President — We have several good French schools in the city. 

Myself — I am glad of it. 

President — What do you teach in your school ? 

Myself — Here is my card (givmg him one of those I used to 
carry in my pocket). 

President — What are your terms? 

Myself — My card indicates them ; from six to eighteen dollars 
per month, according to the age of the pupil, and the studies he 
pursues. 

President — Do you take boarders? 

Myself- — I cannot have more than eight. 

President — Have you any vacant place ? 

Myself — Yes Sir, two. 

President — I wish to send you a boy eleven years old. What 
do you charge for boarders ? 

Myself — My card tells it : thirty-two dollars per month, for board- 
ing and schooling, and eight dollars for manutention ; in all forty 
dollars per month, payable quarterly in advance, the pupil bringing 
with him his bed, bedding and wearing apparel, according to the 
rules established. 

President — My boy shall have every thing ready for the begin- 
ning of next month. 

Myself — Have you any other order to give me ? Here 

Gen. Castrillon made me a question about Napoleon. The conver- 
sation extended soon on the contemporary history of Europe ; and 
from my giving an account of the faults which had brought Napo- 
leon to perish like a dog in Saint Helena, I went, by way of com- 
parison, to show those which had caused Riego to be hung in Spain, 
Murat to be shot in Naples, Iturbide and Guerrero to undergo the 

same fate in Mexico My true friend could no longer raise 

his fork to his lips The assembly, profoundly silent, looked 

at me with astonishment I perceived the error I had com- 
mitted, took leave and went off 

But why call me so earnestly, at dinner time, and treat, in presence 
of so many persons, about placing a boy in my institute? The rea- 
son was obvious. Many who were informed of my ancient intimacy 
with Santa Anna, had suspected that I was actually his secret adviser^ 
&c., and he would evince that he looked upon me as a mere school- 
master 

First of June, 1 834. — Young Jose Antonio Santa Anna, a natural 
son of Don Antonio, alias my true friend, alias the modest maid, 
alias the President, was brought on the 1st of June to my institute, 



85 

and left there without any other formality, with his bed and baggage, 
filled with insects, shockingly filthy from head to foot, harpy-like 
nails, &c. Mrs. Santangelo, aided by her chamber-maids, imme- 
diately took the most maternal care of that unhappy child, had him 
thoroughly cleaned, and in a few days gave him the semblance of a 
little gentleman. 

Thirteenth of June, 1834. — Colonel Menocal came in the morn- 
ing of the 13th of June to inform me that the President, having been 
invited to a great dinner, this being the day of the Saint of his name, 
Antonio, desired to see me there with his son at four o'clock in the 
afternoon. This was evidently a second exhibition of my person : 
but I went prepared. The dinner was given at Barrera's house, at 
San Cosme, if I mistake not. At the given hour I arrived at the 
place, and found the President General, in full uniform, at the head 
of a long table, at which all the grandees of his court, and the 
foreign diplomatic body, were congregated, he having on his right 
and left two or three dozens of the most dazzling beauties that the 
market could afford. He received my respects, he looked at his 

son ; but no caresses to him, not the least civility to me, 

he being wholly busy in offering bocaditos to the surrounding god- 
desses Could I there use my cmie ? I retired with the 

boy instantly. I was afterwards told that he was displeased at my 
disappearance; and in fact, I was wrong; I never ought to have 
humbled myself so far as to honor that punchinello with my pre- 
sence again ; and this was the last time. 

First of July, 1834. — Towards the end of June, I sent the 
President my bill for the quarter due to the institute by his son. 
A Colonel Gutierrez came to inform me that His Excellency would 
pay by the month, and at the end of every month. I answered : 
" His Excellency knows my terms." To this he had the imprudence 
to observe that '"the protection of the President was worth more than 
the quarter's pay I asked." I replied : '' The President ought to grant 
and not sell protection to houses of education." The Colonel depart- 
ed. On the 1st of July, he came again offering forty dollars for the 
expired month ; and on my refusing that money, he withdrew the 
child. I felt happy to have bought so cheaply my independence 
from that noble Meccsnas. But afterwards I had to do with Ven- 
geance herself. 

Fifth of January, 1835. — Whilst the most violent commotions 
were agitating the Mexican Union, I was peacefully pursuing my 
professional occupations, and accumulating wealth, always in the 
expectation of a favorable moment to have my claim settled by Con- 
gress, and come back to my adopted country, the United States. On 
the beginning of 1835, Seiior Del Corral, a learned gentleman, 
Chief Clerk of the Department of Hacienda {Finances^, withdrew 
four of the five children he had at Mrs. Santangelo's academy 
§ince a long time ; and I took the liberty of addressing him a note 



S6 

to know whether he had any motive of dissatisfaction ; to which he 
returned the following answer : 

" From this your House, January 5th, 1835. 
" Mr. O. de a. Santangelo : 

" My very esteemed Friend : In answer to your polite note, 
which I have just received, I have to say that since I placed under 
your care, and that of your lady, my five children, I never omitted 
for a single moment the examination of their progresses in the 
different branches in which we agreed they should be instructed, 
and in the principles of politeness and religion; and that I have 
always remained satisfied with the zeal you have both evinced in 
the fulfilment of such sacred obligations and high confidence; for 
which I shall always tender to you my due thanks. If I have now 
in the beginning of this month left with you only my eldest son, in 
order that he may perfect himself in the languages he is learning, 
this has been the effect of an indispensable measure of economy, to 
which I am compelled by my actual situation. I am always your 
most sincere friend, and attentive servant, who kisses your hands. 

" Juan Jose del Corral." (110) 

This letter, the spontaneous expression of a gentleman enjoying 
the greatest consideration among his countrymen, is, I trust, a most 
irrefragable voucher of the high respectability of my school for 
young women. 

First of April, 1835. — The new General Congress, appointed in 
the spirit of the subversive " Plan de Cuernavaca" of the 25th May, 
1834, had assembled on the 14th January, 1835. President Santa 
Anna, whose farcical captivity by Arista had proved a subject of 
general laughing, now playing the modest maid^ had modestly 
renounced the presidency, certain that Congress, his own creation, 
would by no means acccipt such a resignation ; and in fact it only 
permitted him, by act of the 27th of said month of January, to go and 
re-establish his impaired health [su salud quebrantada) at his farm, 
the usual focus of all his conspiracies against public liberties. By 
two other acts of the same date. Congress had deprived the Vice 
President Farias, whose fidelity to the federal system was as true as 
immoveable, of his official employment, and appointed General Mi- 
guel Barragan President pro tempore, the performer most a propos 
to serve as a cat's paw moved by the monkey. Through him Santa 
Anna from his farm governed the Union, as if present in the capi- 
tal. 

Not taking the slightest notice of all these juggling tricks, and 
whilst in expectation of a suitable moment to present my claims in 
due form to Congress, I was exclusively working for public instruc- 
tion. The Mexican Union had not a single periodical calculated to 
encourage agriculture, mechanics, or commerce, to promote science, 



87 

to instill moral and social principles, to excite love for useful studies, 
in one word, to ennoble the heart and enrich the mind. On the 
other hand, the numerous foreigners residing in the Mexican terri- 
tory complained of never finding in the papers of the country- 
detailed foreign news, but very rarely, ai:id without that accuracy, 
discrimination and orderly continuation which might enable them to 
make a proper estimate of the true situation of things in Europe or 
elsewhere, and of the most important events of the day. Under this 
double aspect of general utility, I thought that a semi- weekly paper, 
presented in a decent form, written with some judgment, in various 
languages, and entirely foreign to domestic politics, could answer 
the purpose, and procure me some additional advantage from my 
own personal exertions. I spared, therefore, no trouble nor expense 
for the enterprise; and accordingly, on the 1st of April, 1835, I 
published the " Prospectus" of a paper under this title : " El Cor- 
REo Atlantico, periodico poliglota, comercial, politico y literario" 
(the Atlantic Courier, a polyglot, commercial, political, literary pe- 
riodical), the terms of the subscription being the following : 

" The Atlantic Courier will be published every Wednesday and 
Saturday, on paper of the same quality and size, and in the same 
type, as used in printing this Prospectus. Communications will be 
received in the Spanish, French, English, Italian or German lan- 
guages; provided they be properly written both as to morality and 
literature, and may affect in no manner the internal politics or the 
religion of the country. No anonymous articles will be admitted 
containing personal contests, even of a merely scientific nature. 
The price of subscription, payable monthly in advance, is one dol- 
lar and seventy-five cents in the city of Mexico, and two dollars and 

twenty-five cents abroad, free of postage The first 

number to be published as soon as sufficient time shall have elapsed 
to give publicity to this Prospectus," &c. ( * ) 

Twenty-second of April, 1 835. — From among the favorable 
opinions given by the press on the " Prospectus" in question, I shall 
quote here that of the " Censor of Vera Cruz," of the 22d of April, 
it being a paper invariably devoted to Seiior Santa Anna: "We 
have formed the best opinion, and the most advantageous idea of a new 
periodical, polyglot, commercial and literary, which is about to be 
established m Mexico, and which we take pleasure in recommend- 
ing to our friends. It will be published on Wednesday and Satur- 
day of every week. Its first number will appear as soon as its 
Prospectus shall be sufficiently spread over the Republic ; it will 
contain a glance on the actual situatioji of Europe, and a compen- 
dium of all the labors of the present Mexican Congress, from the 
first day of its installation. No anonymous communications in 
general, containing personal variances, although merely scientific, 
will be received." 

From the Censor of the twenty-third of April : " In the idea which 
we presented yesterday of the new Periodical which is about to be 



88 

eslablished in Mexico, we forgot to say that it is entitled ' El Cor- 
rco Atlantico.' As soon as the question of Zacatecas shall permit 
us to rest, and leave us place enough in our paper, we will publish 
a beautiful discourse on commerce, which its editors insert, as an 
introduction, in their Prospectus." ( 111 ) 

The Zacatecas question was this: Congress by act of the 31st 
March, 1835, had reduced the national militia to 07ie militia-man 
per five hundred inhabitants. The militia was the only bridle of 
the licentious standing arviy, which was the blind instrument of 
Santa Anna's exploits. The State of Zacatecas would not submit to 
this violation of its constitutional sovereignty: hence the question 
which was solved a little later by the sword. 

Second of May, 1835. — The first number of the " Correo Atlan- 
tico," appeared on the 2d of May, 1835. ( * ) Numerous subscrip- 
tions were obtained in the city, and soon likewise in all the different 
States of the Union, which, at an average of two dollars per month, 
amounted to twenty-four dollars each, per annum; so that in a few 
months one thousand subscriptions would have infallibly produced 
twenty-four thousand dollars per annum, had not the treachery of 
a military despot blasted all my just and honest expectations. Nay, 
the indications showed that several thousands of subscriptions were 
reasonably to be hoped for in a short time. A few communications 
from other editors to me on this subject will give an idea of the 
opinion entertained by the public about that paper. 

" ToLucA, May 1th, 1835. 

"Mr. Editor of the Correo Atlantico, Mexico: 

'• Dear Sir : With the greatest satisfaction we have received your 
attentive and esteemed favor, dated 25th April, ultimo ; in answer to 
which we have to state that from the moment in which we saw the 
Prospectus of the periodical which you are editing, we conceived 
that it was to be of the highest utility to the Republic ; and we 
thought it to be our duty to transmit to you ours, whose merit con- 
sists in its being official. As to the rest, we distrust much of our 
productions, and are only encouraged by a desire of contributing as 
far as possible to the propagation of some scientific, mechanical and 
economical ideas, which come to us from instructed and able friends. 
On this account, we accompany the enclosed copies, on which we 
have marked the articles, which have hitherto appeared relating to 
this subject, that you may have the goodness to insert some in your 
periodical, which must have a more general circulation than ours. 
We avail of this occasion to offer you, Mr. Editor, our consideration, 
respect and friendship. Your devoted servants, 

"The Editors of the Oliva. 

" P. S. We have received the first number of the Correo, and hope 
to deserve from you the continuation of its transmission," (112) 



89 

'•Matamoras, May 21s^, 1835. 
"Messrs. Editors of the Correo Atlantico: 

"Gentlemen: We have the satisfaction to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of your esteemed favor of the 25th April, ultimo, in which 
you request the remittance of our periodical in exchange for yours. 
This we will do with the utmost pleasure^ and even shall try to 
procure subscribers for you, as far as that may be possible in this 
port, and we will omit nothing on our part to help an enterprise so 
praiseworthy as that you have undertaken to direct, for we are aware 
most fully of its utility in a country which commences to figure in 
the great family of nations. Some more establishments of the same 
nature as yours, formed in the principal cities of this Republic, and 
her maritime ports, would favor the progress of the arts, sciences, 
agriculture, manufacturing industry and commerce, more than all 
those fronunciamientos and revolutionary plans, which, under 
that pretext, have taken place since the year 1821, and in particular 
against foreigners, who do not enter this Republic as vagrant or 
idle, but with capitals and industry for the benefit of the country 
itself. We remain yours, &c., 

" The Editors or the Mercurio." ( 113 ) 

" Oaxaca, May olst, 1835. 
•'Mr. O. de a. Santangelo: 

" Dear Sir : Before receiving your attentive note of the 29th of the 
past month, which I have now the honor of answering, I had com- 
menced to remit the periodicals, which are under my charge. They 
have no comparison tvith that which you are editing, and still you 
had the kindness to transmit it to me, for its merits over all the others 
of this class, which are published in the Republic, is notoriously 
known. I shall continue, therefore, punctually sending mine, and 
receive with pleasure your interesting one, entreating you to deign 
to send me the prospectus, which I have not received, in order that 
there be no deficiency in the collection which I most ardently wish 
to preserve. You can likewise command me in whatever other 
thing, in which I could be useful to you in this capital, and all its 
State, assuring you that in serving you, your very devoted friend 
and assured servant, who kisses your hands, feels satisfaction, 

"Antonio Valdes y Moya." (114) 

For the elucidation of the facts which I have to state hereafter 
relating to my " second banishment," I think it proper her? to give 
the following historical account. 

The Mexican Congress, installed at the beginning of this year, 
1835, and composed mostly of priests and soldiers friendly to cen- 
tralism, as proclaimed by the " Plan de Cuernavaca," had declared 
itself, by an act of the 2d May, invested with all the extra- constitu- 
tional faculties for making as many alterations to the Constitution 
of 1824, then in vigor, as it should deem useful lo the nation. Ac- 
12 



90 

cordingly, it passM on the same day another act, pardoning all per- 
sons that had committed political crimes from the 27th of Septem- 
ber, 1821, to the 4th of January, 1835, except those who were not 
born in the Republic, and had pronounced themselves against the 
Government from the 1st of May, 1824; and no exception in favor 
of naturalized foreigners. The world had thus the example of a 
whole legislative body trampling at once under foot public faith, 
national honor, the law of nations, and the most sacred dogmas of 
universal justice. We will, therefore, not wonder at the incredible 
effrontery of Santa Anna in his successive operations, under Jlhe 
auspices of such a national representation. 

The State of Zacatecas first attracted his attention. He saw in its 
opposition to the reduction of the militia to one militia-man per five 
hundred inhabitants, lawlessly ordered by Congress, a scandalous 
obstacle to his plans of centralizatioji, and resolved to make it a 
terrific example to the other States. He then left his farm in good 
health, and, at the head of six thousand old troops, went to attack, at 
the gates of the city of Zacatecas, in the morning of the 1 1th of May, 
a mass of four thousand five hundred peasants, badly armed, worsely 
instructed, and hastily collected there by the Governor of the State, 
Cosio, to face the aggression. Of course, those poor people, at the 
first appearance of the grand army, laid their arms at the feet of the 
Mexican Napoleon. He, however, wishing to give that affair the 
color of a victory gained in consequence of a glorious battle, killed 
most wantonly and ferociously one thousand seven hundred and 
seventy-seven of those unhappy creatures, took prisoners the rest, 
caused many respectable foreigners to be assassinated and plundered 
in the place, nay, in the very bosom of their families, returned 
triumphant to Mexico, preceded by three carriages filled with friars, 
went to inhabit the Episcopal palace of Tacubaya, at three miles 
fiom Mexico; and on the 23d of May, was declared by Congress 
benemerito de la patria, (well deserving from the country). In the 
mean time, the President pro tempore, Barragan, preserved appa- 
rently the reins of the Government, going daily to Tacubaya to 
receive orders from Santa Anna. 

He next cast his bloody eyes on Texas. That Colony, whilst 
forming a part of the State called of " Coaliuila y Texas," consider- 
ing that it had the population required by the Constitution to form a 
separate sovereignty, had already advanced its demand ad hoc through 
its chief colonist Colonel Austin, who, accused of having instigated 
the Colonists to assert their independence from Coahuila before their 
obtaining the assent of Congress, had been detained a whole year in 
the dungeons of the abolished inquisition. How could Santa Anna 
now expect that those Colonists, all free-born Americans, and ac- 
tually citizens of a free, sovereign and independent State, would 
gladly become his humble vassals under the proposed central form 
of Government? He was, moreover, well aware that Texas, if 
attacked, would soon have under her banners a great number of 



91 

volunteers from the United States, and was not less persuaded that 
from the result of that campaign his elevation to the Mexican throne 
chiefly depended. Victory was consequently not to be a problem. 
He felt, therefore, the necessity not merely of a large army for the 
enterprise, but even of the declaration of a national war against the 
Texians, whom he considered as Mexican citizens in their duties, 
and as foreigners in their rights. To unite all the political parties 
of the country in the contemplated national war, he very skilfully 
spread the false rumor that the Government and the people of the 
United States aimed at possessing themselves of that vast an,d beau- 
tiful part of the Mexican territory^ and caused the press to overload 
both Americans and Texians with calumnies and imprecations of the 
most abominable character. Congress, by an act of the same day, 23d 
of May, in which it had declared him betiemerito de la patria, em- 
powered him to go and re-establish public order in the State of 
Coahuila and Texas. The curtain was then raised, and the Texian 
drama commenced. 

Twenty-eighth of May, 1 835. — An editorial appeared in the Ga- 
zette of Monterrey (State of New-Leon, contiguous to Texas), 
under date of the 28th May, in the following alarming terms : 

" Letters from persons worthy of faith, and eye-witnesses of facts 
exceedingly scandalous and unworthy even of the most savage tribes, 
committed by the Colonists and adventurers of Texas upon the un- 
happy Mexicans, whom those strangers have proposed to destroy, 
as if they were wild beasts, conclusively prove the precarious and 
terrible position in which the few of our countrymen find them- 
selves who have remained with their new philanthropic guests, 
whose number increases from day to day, sheltered by the forbear- 
ance or dissembling which the Government of Coahuila is evincing 
in a matter so important. It is already high time that the General 
Government should turn its attention to that frontier, and redeem 
our Mexican brethren from the insufferable tyranny with which they 
are treated by those hungry adventurers, who, oppressed by wants 
in their own country, wish, right or wrong, to settle on that soil, 
and make themselves exclusive masters of it, killing and persecuting, 
in whatever mode their brutal and ferocious character may suggest, 
the true owners of the country they came to tread, and in which 
they have found the most generous reception. In our opinion it 
would be well to examine the titles of the Colonists, and expel all 
those who have introduced themselves without authority, supposing 
that these are nothing but adventurers, who have abandoned their 
native land, either for their vices and laziness, or for their poverty. 
We have been assured that in Nacogdoches not one single Mexican 
exists of those who formerly composed its fair population. This is 
the manner in which the Colonists conduct themselves towards those 
who give them a country and prosperity ! These are the liberal, the 
humane, the wise population of the rich lands of Texas !" ( 115) 
Thirteenth of June, 1835.- — The heap of defamatory and vague 



92 

charges I have jnsl mentioned, preferred by an unknown writer, 
bearing no mark of an official character, and tending evidently to 
excite general hatred and persecution against the Colonists of Texas, 
who, ignorant of the Spanish language, and isolated in a distant 
desert of the Republic, could not be informed of wh-xi was going on 
against them, and wholly defenceless, were exposed to a proditory, 
inevitable and imminent destruction ; the insults, calumnies and im- 
precations resounding unceasingly every where against the Govern- 
ment of the United States, designated as the instigator of a revolt in 
Texas, contemplated to give it the possession of that Province ; the 
outrages which, in consequence of the general effervescence created by 
the Mexican authorities and periodicals, were daily being committed 
in all the maritime and inland points of the Republic on American 
persons and property, and which, precisely at that period, gave rise 
to a great part of the claims at present under examination in Wash- 
ington ; these considerations had now rendered my silence impossi- 
ble. I was an American citizen, and a true one. On the other hand, 
merely to doubt some gratuitous assertions of a gazette in matters 
of fact, without entering into any political discussion, was not in 
my eyes a violation of the law which I had imposed on myself not 
to intermeddle, in my Correo, in the internal politics of the country. 
I then spoke; but what did I say? Let my judges and the world 
look at this. I answered, in my Correo, of the 13th, page 49, the 
'' Gaceta of Monterrey," in the following terms : 

" We copy in continuation, an article from the Gaceta of New- 
Leon, in which attacks are produced of a serious nature against the 
Colonists of Texas. We shall not contradict one single syllable of 
the article ; we are only desirous, as imputations are made which 
evidently tend to p^-ovoke national aversion and a general war 
against those settlers, to whom are applied the not very flattering 
epithets of adventurers, extrangeros (in the acceptation commonly 
given to these words), and who are accused of murders, brutality, 
ferocity, &c., that one sole fact, one document, one witness be pro- 
duced in proof of such assertions, whose exactness does not appear 
to us sufficiently guaranteed by the vague citations of ' letters from 
persons worthy of faith, eye-witnesses.' " &c. ( 115 ) 

That is all. Did I offend the Mexican Government, or any 
Mexican being 1 

Seventeenth of June, 1835. — Soon after, in the beginning of June, 
1835, the official Gaceta of Mexico published an extract (vom true 
or supposed letters of Matamoras, conceived as follows: 

" The Colonists of Texas have been and are willing to laugh at 
the Mexican nation, relying on the good success which they hoped 
the factions of Zacatecas and Monclova would obtain, to possess 
themselves of that immense and extremely fertile territory, to which 
they allege their rights, not only as colonists, but as conquerors. 
Acting under such an excitement, they have murdered the valiant 
and honest Captain Don Antonio Tenorio fa fact contradicted after- 



93 

wards by the official Gazette itself], who, on account of the ill-will 
excited against him by demagogues, was obliged to march to Ana- 
huac, with the extremely small force of a detachment of thirty-four 
men, to protect the officers of that maritime custom-house, bringing' 
with him only twelve serviceable muskets for rheir defence; the 
said officers had fled, fearing the oppression of those insolent North- 
Americans^ who did not wish to pay any duties to the nation ; and 
that determined Captain, who well knew what was due to honor, 
and was well acquainted with his duty, would not resign his post 
for any motive whatever, notwithstanding the desertion of some of 
his troops, caused by want of pay, which he had not for them, nor had 
he received the least communication from his chiefs respecting it ; 
whilst the Supreme Government, freed from its actual occupa- 
tions, was adopting indispensable measures to restrain the temerity 
and traitorous enterprise of those highway robbers of Texas, who, 
emigrated from North-America, inhabit those vast regions. The 
result has been that this Mexican Tenorio, worthy of a better fate, 
has received death from the hands of those Colonists. In the con- 
fidential account I have received of this event, no details are given, 
except only that the villains of whom I speak have murdered him 
treacherouslyj" (115) 

Against this badly digested story I produced in my Correo, of 
the 17th of June, the description of the Texian Colonists and their 
character, then just made officially by a Mexican Colonel; and from 
the collation of this description with the above quoted extract of let- 
ters from Matamoras, I drew my consequences. 

The description in question was this : 

'' In all the voluminous statistic notice upon Texas, presented 
on the 1st of January of this year, 1835, by Seiior Juan Nepo- 
muceno Almonte to the Supreme Government of Mexico, by whose 
order, dictated by the interest taken in the preservation of the inte- 
grity of the Mexican territory, Senor Almonte had travelled 
through Texas in the beginning of the past year (commissioned by 
the Vice President Farias), there is not the least mention made of 
facts, capable of inspiring the slightest apprehension of that people 
entertaining any idea or desire to separate from the Union. On the 
contrary, Mr. Almonte tells us, page 6 : ' Texas must be very soon 
the most flourishing section of the Republic. It is not difficult for us 
to know the reason of this prosperity, if we consider that there, with 
the exception of some turbulent persons (and where are there no 
turbulent persons ?), nothing is thought of but sowing sugar cane, 
cotton, wheat, tobacco, and raising cattle, opening roads, and render- 
ing rivers navigable; and that the effects of our political commotions 
are not felt but by chance.^ " ( 115 ) 

In the statistic table of the population and municipalities of the 
District of Nacogdoches, Mr. Almonte mentions, page 67, the vil- 
lage of Anahuac, which he says contains fifty souls; adding page 75 : 
" Anahuac is situated about one league from the mouth of the river 



94 

Trinidad, on its left margin ; its situation is very picturesque 

There was some commerce in this village during its occupation by 
troops; since which time it has remained abandoned^ 

Finally, speaking of military posts, he says, page 77: "Besides 
the military post of Nacogdoches, Senor Teran established in this 
department two more; one at Teran, and another at Anahuac. The 
first of these two posts is well situated ; but I doubt the utility of 
the second (of Anahuac), because all military posts on the coasts 
should be placed at the entrance of Galveston Bay to defend it, and 
not at its extremity, where only vessels of very light draught, and 
sometimes only boats can arrive, on account of an oyster-bank, 
which impedes its navigation until that point." 

The consequences which I now drew from the mentioned com- 
parison, were the following questions : 

'' 1st. What maritime custom-house can a village oi fifty souls pos- 
sess, to which only vessels of very light draught can arrive, and 
sometimes only boatsi The officers of the custom-house who fled, 
did they fear the population of the village itself, or an unknown 
force coming from the sea ? 

'' 2dly. Are these fifty souls natives or strangers? Who has ever 
demonstrated their being American Colonists, and enemies of Mexi- 
co? 

''3dly. Is the force of thirty-four men, commanded by a Captain, 
remarkably small for a population of fifty souls^ from which num- 
ber, deducting the women, children, old men, sick, &c., ten men 
could scarcely remain capable of bearing arms? 

''4thly. In virtue of what order, and from what place did Captain 
Tenorio move, to conduct thirty-four armed men, with only twelve 
serviceable guns, and without the least communication with his 
chiefs ? 

"5thly. How could a small population oi fifty souls commit a gratui- 
tous and treacherous assassination upon the person of the Captain, 
without fearing the revenge of the troops, of which revenge the 
paragraph does not make the least mention ? 

" 6thly. Does not the circumstance of wanting pay for the troops 
give rise to the suspicion that the Captain attempted to commit some 
violence, which compelled the inhabitants, or only one of them, to 
exercise the right of self-defence ? 

'' 7thly. A murder, happening in an isolated place, in a village of 
fifty souls, of whose existence we are almost ignorant ; a murder, 
of which neither the details, the motives, nor the true authors dre 
known; a murder, of which the local authorities, if any exist, have 
never informed the Government (as until now nothing contradicts); 
this murder, true or imaginary, related by letters whose writers 
are hidden from the public ; such a murder, we repeat, shall it be 
imputed to all the colonists of a territory, extending twenty-one 
thousand square leagues, according to Senor Almonte, page 19? 

" 8thly. But does this murder, let its nature be whatever it may, 



95 

prove that the Colonists of Texas think of withdrawing from their 
obedience to the Metropolis^ and of exercising the rights of con- 
querors ? 

" It hitherto appears that, not the North-American Colonists of 
Texas, but the anonymous letters of Matamoras are provoking an 

aggression, an injustice, a. war by means which the 

impartiality, hospitality, and good sense of every worthy Mexican, 
cannot help reprobating. We have received the latest numbers of 
the ' Mercurio,' up to the 21st of May ultimo, and we observe that 
neither in Matamoras, nor in Monclova, nor in any other part of the 
State of ' Coahuila y Texas,' the least mention is made of the facts 
which appear to be the result of private and anonymous letters (at 
least for the public) recently published in this capital, against the 
Colonists of Texas." (115) 

And this Avas my last sin in my Correo, after which I was con- 
demned to a second banishment from Mexico ! And by whom? By 
my true friend. And why? Had I offended the Mexican Govern- 
ment? From my advocating against private and unknown writers, 
the honor of my fellow-citizens of the United States, the uprightness 
of my own Government, and the innocence of the Texian Colonists, 
looked upon by the Mexican Government as foreigners, I could have, 
no doubt, displeased Santa Anna personally, my publications not 
being in accordance with his ambitious and exterminating projects 
(and this was not even my object); but it was a consequence, as inevi- 
table as independent from my will, of my compliance with my duties 
towards my country, humanity, public morals, and the Mexican Na- 
tion itself. I preached justice and peace, and was punished as a 
preacher of anarchy and war ! 

Twenty-third of June, 1835. — A superior officer, my friend, 
whom I could not name here without exposing him to the resent- 
ment of the still living Santa Anna, came in the morning of the 23d 
of June, and informed me, under the seal of secrecy, that this gen- 
tleman was furious on account of the defence I had made of the 
North- Americans and the Texians ; and, also, for my having ridi- 
culed the nation, by condemning " cock-fights," his favorite diver- 
sion, and the ^^ pronunciamiento fov centralism," made by the people 
of the capital in the night of the 12th of the same month. 

We have already seen why, and in what terms, I defended Ame- 
rican honor and Texian innocence ; and certainly I had no apology 
to offer for that. Let us see now what reason the President of a 
free, enlightened and virtuous nation could have for complaining of 
what I had said about "cock-fights," and the " pronunciamiento for 
centralism " in the capital. 

Cock-fights. — In making some observations about an advertise- 
ment published in other papers, inviting the people to attend at the 
cock-fights to take place in a neighboring town in celebration of the 
Easter, I had said in my Correo of the 13th May last, page 13, 
what follows: 



^'Edifying. — The approaching feast of the Holy Ghost will be 
celebrated in the neighboring town of Tlapam, by a grand spectacle 
of cock-fights. Every day, during the festival days of Easter, the 
Divine Love will be symbolized by eleven lovely battles between 
cocks. The principal purse will be of $200 ; five others of $100 ; 
and the remainder of $50. Music of all sorts, balls, illuminations, 
decent decorations, &c., every thing will concur to enhance the 
warlike exploits of the cock in honor and glory of the pacific Holy- 
Ghost. Pious, innocent, sensitive maidens will run, will fly no 
doubt to Tlalpam. There the double effusion of the sweet ineffable 
spirit of God, and of the bitter poisonous blood of some eleven valiant 
kikirikis, will render their morals sublime, and engrave heroic sen- 
timents in their tender and candid hearts !" 

This censure, wholly foreign to politics, worthy of the approba- 
tion of all civilized governments, and highly commanded by the 
honor of mankind, deserved from another philanthropic editor, far 
more warlike than the cocks of Tlalpam, a rebuke so eminently 
villanous and stupid, that I copied it, ad perpetuam rei memoriam, 
in my Polyglot Correo, of the 23d of May, page 25, without the 
least observation, and with this submissive exclamation: '^Paix, 

mon brave, paix ! J'ai tous les torts du monde mais 

errando discitur — Alexis." ( * ) 

Pronunciamiento. — In the night of the 12th to the 13th of 
June, an intoxicated mob were sent about the streets of Mexico roar- 
ing centralismo ; a word which none of them could pronounce right- 
ly. In my Correo of the 13th, I related the fact as it occurred, 
namely : 

" A new news. — Yesterday, 12th of June, at ten o'clock in the 
night, an unusual noise of bells and fire-rockets, which continued 
for many hours, mingled with popular vivas and music, in the prin- 
cipal streets of the city, announced something new. We have been 
told at this moment that the Republic of Mexico, which last night 
wsis federal, has awakened this morning central.'^ ( US ) 

Here I must be permitted to ask, who could imagine that to re- 
late, without any comment, a partial movement of the mob in the 
city of Mexico, was to ridicule the whole Mexican nation? Who 
could conceive that the Mexican Government, being at the time 
federal itself, could take offence at the fact above related, free from 
all political observations ; a nocturnal uproar having all the sem- 
blance of a criminal rebellion ? Yet another silly and scurrilous 
bombast was shot at me, which I transcribed also, word for word, 
in my Correo of the 20th of June, page 60, as an historical piece, 
under the heading '' Mosaico ;" limiting my reply to this verse of 

Casti : 

E monsignore rispondea, capisco. 

Twenty-fourth of June, 1835. — The circumstances just related, 
led me to suspect that some plot was going on in the President's 
cabinet against my tranquillity ; and to avert as far as possible all 



97 

pretexts of persecution, I hastened to publish on the next day, 24th 
of June, in my Correo,page 62, an apologetic editorial, commencing 
thus: 

'' I owe to my subscribers and friends the following explana- 
tions," &c. ( 117 ) My judges will take notice, I trust, of this fact. 
But, scarcely had the paper come out from the press, when another 
friend came to inform me that a serious complaint on the part of the 
Bishop of Puebla, Seiior Vasquez, had been made to President 
Santa Anna '' for my having denied that the devil has ever been al- 
lowed to enter human bodies." The fact is tliis : 

I had published in my Correo of the 13th May last, page 13, the 
following editorial : 

'' Satanic question. — In these last days much has been spoken, 
and not without noise, of a girl thirteen years old, of the ward of 
Santa Cruz, being visited internally by Satan in the shape of a toad. 
This fact, the press has said, is attested by persons of truth. Two cir- 
cumstances are, moreover, quoted, which leave no room to doubt it. 
First : That of the toad having guessed the number of dollars which 
a Don Ventura Sierra had in his pocket. Secondly: That of the 
toad having given us an idea of the language of the diabolic nation, 
by answering Asegun to all the intimations made to it to go out 
from the body of the girl. A lawyer, whose knowledge and virtues 
we duly appreciate, has observed to us, about this question, that if 
the soul, an incorporeal substance, commands evidently the human 
body, another incorporeal substance, or malignant spirit, can very 
well command both the body and the soul. We shall take no part 
in a question so important, because supernatural things, beyond the 
power of man, are not within the reach of our poor understanding. 
We shall limit ourselves, therefore, to relate on some other day, 
under a scientific aspect, and Avith the sole view of instructing our- 
selves, what the most profound psychologo-satanico-theologists have 
said about the existence, or the possibillity of diabolic obsessions." 

And so I did, in my Correo of the 27th May, page 31 ( * ), 
without manifesting in any way at all my own opinions on this 
ludicrous subject; nor would 1 have taken the least notice of it, had 
it not found credit with the press, lawyers, and the most eminent 
savants of the capital. But was the editorial in question an offence 
to the Mexican Government or nation — a political question — an 
attempt to plunge the country into the horrors of anarchy? 

The fact is, that I had no time again to apologize for having re- 
lated what all the other papers of the country had been permitted to 
do. My expulsion was decreed on this very day, 24th of June, and 
my passport signed ! ! ! 

Twenty-fifth of June, 1835. — Early in the morning a tall, fat 
adjutant in uniform, called on me, and handed me politely the fol- 
lowing note : 

" Government of the Federal District — Section .... 
"Mr. O. de A. Santangelo shall present himself forthwith to this 
13 



98 

Govrrnmoiit with the same person that will deliver Ijim this order, 
lor an executive provision. Ravon, 

''S. J. Alcantara, Secrelary. ( 118 ) 
'' Mexico, /«He 2ilh, 1835." 

I Avent. The Governor, General Ramon Rayon, received me 
kindly, and, being left alone with him, who was also in full uniform, 
the following dialogue took place: 

Governor — The Supreme Government orders me to hand you 
this passport. 

Myself — I have solicited no passport. I am not disposed to travel. 

Governor — You are ordered in it to leave this city within three 
days, and go to embark at Vera Cruz for foreign parts. 

Myself — For what reason, sir? 

Governor — lam not informed of it; but I think you ought not to 
have spoken of Texas in your paper. 

Myself — I understand ; this is a compliment from ray friend 
Santa Anna. 

Governor — Were you not one of the editors of the periodical " La 
Oposicion ?" 

Myself — I never Avrote in any paper except in my " Correo At- 
lantico." 

Governor — I have nothing else to say to you, except that in case 
of non-compliance with this order on your part, I am directed to 
employ force. 

Myself — Does the Government know that lama citizen of the 
United States, under the protection of the treaty of 1831 ? 

Governor — This cannot have escaped the attention of the Supreme 
Government. 

Myself— How can I put my aflairs in order and get ready to start 
within three days, having a numerous school, a periodical widely 
circulated, a house with valuable furniture, a heavy baggage, a 
wife, accounts to settle 

Governor — I think you could obtain a delay should you not speak 
of American citizenship, treaties, or other exceptions indicating re- 
sistance or resentm.ent 

Myself — To whom have I to address myself for a delay — to 
Barragan or Santa Anna 1 

Governor — To both; Barragan being the acting President, and 
Santa Anna the supreme law. 

Myself— I thank you. General. I shall follow your friendly 
advice. I shall never forget your kindness. 

Governor — Lose no time. 

Myself — I wish your country a better fate 

"We shook hands, and I retired with the resignation inspired by 
the impossibility of avoiding the blow. Santa Anna had long and 

well matured this step; it was then irrevocable nor could I 

honorably solicit a revocation after the affront already received. 



99 

The passport received was thus conceived: 

" No. 757— Recorded at fol. 226 of the 2d book of the Branch. 

"Federal Mexican Republic. 

" The President of the Mexican United States grants free and 
secure passport to the foreigner O. de A. Santangelo, that he might, 
within the third day from this dale, leave this capital, and go to 
embark at Vera Cruz for foreign parts. And orders all civil and 
military authorities of the nation not to oppose his transit, and to fur- 
nish him with the necessary succors, by paying them at their just 
prices. 

" Palace of the Federal Government in Mexico, this 24th day of 
June, 1835, and the fifteenth year of the Independence. 

'' By order of His Excellency — The Secretary of State, and of the 
Despatch of Relations : 

"Jose Maria Ortiz Monasterio." ( 119 ) 

There being at the time no diplomatic agent of the United States 
in Mexico (Mr. Butler having left since some time that residence), 
I Avent directly from the Governor's office to that of the United 
States Consul, Mr. William S. Parrott, who, on being informed of 
the case, expressed his regret not to be able to interfere in it, he 
having, as a consul, no communication with the State Department, 
and his functions being limited only to commercial affairs ; for 
which, said he, I had no better to do than to svbviit to the violence^ 
and afterwards expose my grievances to our Government in Wash- 
ington. The impossibility of all protection compelled me, then, to 
follow the advice of both the Mexican Governor and the American 
Consul,, and try to draw, if possible, from my forced submission the 
advantage of a delay which might enable me to sustain the least 
harm possible from my expulsion, and enter at the same time a 
formal protest in the American Consulate against it. 

I then returned home, and found my poor wife, entirely ignorant 
of what was passing, heartily engaged in teaching her school, then 
composed of sixty-one pupils. At this sight a strong palpitation of 
the heart made me stop almost petrified for a few moments in the 
middle of the school-room; and then, by a movement quite involun- 
tary, I ran to embrace my wife, bathing her bosom with my tears, 
and announced to her and all her pupils that I was banished, and 
the school was terminated. I do not feel sufficiently able to describe 
the effect of that intimation. Torrents of tears flowed from the eyes 
of that innocent, grateful and numerous family. All of them, seized 
by a violent grief, fell upon me and my wife, embracing us tightly, 
kissing us, inundating us with their warm tears ; the smallest ones 
clasping their arms around our knees, as if endeavoring to prevent 
us from going away, making the walls resound with their infantile 
sobs. This was a triumph of virtue over despotism. The arrival 
of some friends put an end to that afiJecting scene, and these discon- 
solate young beings left us, to go and endeavor to induce their parents 



100 

to unite together and find some means to prevent our departure from 
Mexico. Vain hopes of distressed simplicity ! 

I then took the pen, and wrote to Santa Anna this confidential 
note : 

''Mexico, 25ih June, 1835. 

'' General : However surprising; may have been to me the order 
of the Secretary of Relations, which has been communicated to me 
this morning, at eight o'clock, by the Governor of the District ; how- 
ever incredible may seem to me an order of banishment, at a mo- 
ment in which you are at the head of the Government, and present 
in this capital, I shall not ask the revocation of the measure. At 
the advanced age of sixty-one, and after forty-five years of expe- 
rience in revolutionary matters, which I have acquired at my own 
expense, nothing can prove strange to me, either in Mexico or in 
any other corner of the globe. 

" But, do you wish, sir, solely to compel me to quit this Repub- 
lic, or to cause also an entire ruin of my poor domestic interests, 
involving in it, at the same time, my young and innocent spouse? 

" We are at present peacefully and very usefully employed at the 
head of an establishment of sixty-one young pupils of both sexes. 
At this very moment v/e are, then, compelled to dismiss them, and 
we will remain creditors of sums which form our subsistence, and 
which we are condemned to lose. 

'' We have a house filled with valuable furniture, and a piano- 
forte, the whole of which, in the impossibility of our carrying it 
away with us, must remain abandoned to the first occupant. 

" I have advanced the expense of from sixteen to seventeen hun- 
dred dollars for the establishment of a philosophical and instruc- 
tive periodical, which I had thought, in all good faith, fully to merit 
your protection ; and to my great regret I must feel convinced that 
you have not even read it, for otherwise you would not permit the 
persecution of which I am about to be the object. This sum, the 
fruit of my honorable literary labors, will likewise be lost. 

" I have to prepare my trunks, to pack up eight or ten boxes of 
books and other objects, to receive others which are at present in 
the hands of several workmen;. but the whole must be left in the 
street ! 

'' My .consort, certainly not accustomed to leave a city where she 
is an object of general esteem, to travel like a criminal woman, is 
already in agony from the treatment with which we are favored, 
and will likely find a watery grave in the Mexican gulf, in addi- 
tion to my only son, ivho there fell a victim of my first and barbarous- 
banishment in 1826! 

" In this state of things, ready to suffer all the rigor of my banish- 
ment, but extremely contented and satisfied with myself, as every 
honorable, just, and free man ought to be, I accept the passport 
which has been delivered to me, and I would only solicit from your 
Government fifteen days' time to make my preparations, and such 



101 

■means as are utterly indis'pensable to reach jrom this point, toith 
my wife and baggage, a port tohatever of the United States of 
America, my adopted country. This alone, and nothing else, is in 
expectation of from his ancient friend Santa Anna, 

"O. DE A. Santangelo. 
'' His Excellency Don Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, 

President of the United Mexican States." ( 120 ) 

I addressed, at the same time, to the Minister of Foreign Rela- 
tions, a petition hastily conceived thus: 

"To His Excellency 

The Minister of Foreign Relations: 

"O. de A. Santangelo, a citizen of the United States, has just 
received, through the Governor of the District, by order of his Ex- 
cellency the President of the Republic, a passport with the order of 
leaving, within the third day (that is, the day after to-morrow, the 
27th instant), this capital, with direction to the port of Vera Cruz, 
and there to embark for foreign parts. Although the justice of a 
measure, as unexpected as little merited, is not demonstrated ; 
although the petitioner is not able to imagine the motives of it, still, 
accustom-ed to respect the laws, and even the faults of Governments, 
he will conform with it and go. But shall he be able, in the course 
of only forty-eight hours, to settle his accounts with the parents of 
sixty-one pupils of both sexes, who have attended since nearly two 
years the literary establishment of his wife ; dispose of the large 
quantity of furniture of his house; recover what is due to him by a 
large number of subscribers to the '' Correo Atlantico," a paper 
merely philosophical, and highly worthy (at least for its object) of 
public favor ; prepare his trunks, pack up many boxes of books, and 
take all other necessary dispositions to perform a long and painful 
voyage with his young and respectable wife? The petitioner has 
just represented all this, in a letter of this same date, to the Presi- 
dent, and does not doubt that it will be taken into consideration, and 
that fifteen days' time will be granted to him to execute his depar- 
ture. This delay cannot prove prejudicial either to public or private 
interest. The only end of the Government seems to be to cause the 
petitioner to leave this Republic, and it will be punctually obeyed; 
but it certainly is not, nor can it be, that of destroying completely 
all his very limited personal and domestic interests. With this per- 
suasion, the petitioner takes the liberty of addressing himself to your 
Excellency, praying you to have the goodness to bring his solicita- 
tion to the consideration of his Excellency the President, and to in- 
terpose your good offices in his behalf; for which he will remain 
extremely obliged to you. 

" God and Liberty. O. de A. Santangelo. ( 120 ) 

"Mexico, June 25, 1835." 

The above two letters being ready, I myself brought to the Go- 
vernor the one addressed to the Secretary of State, who very civilly 



102 

!•( uiraed no answer ; and Mis. Santangelo, accompanied by an Ame- 
rican g-entleman, Mr. Aaron Leggett, went to present the other to 
Seiior Santa Anna, in Tacubaya. Siie was obliged to wait four 
hours in the ante-chamber, during which she was told that his Ex- 
cellency was sleeping was working with the members of the 

cabinet was at dinner had gone out ; . . . . and then, 

advised by the Minister of War, Tornel, to address herself to the 
acting President, Barragan, she returned to the city, and went im- 
mediately to see this gentleman. He, however, had already re- 
ceived the necessary instructions, and then declared his inability to 
modify the orders of General Santa Anna, suggesting to Mrs. San- 
tangelo to go again to Tacubaya. 

Tivtnly-slxth of June, 1835. — Early in the morning of the next 
day, 26th of June, Mrs. Santangelo repaired again, with Mr. Leg- 
gett, to Tacubaya, and her second ante-chamber lasted from eight 
o'clock, A. M., to six o'clock, P. M. But she was now determined 
to see the Sultan, and he was at last obliged to show himself; and 
here is faithfully related the dialogue of the interview: 

Santa Anna — Who are you, Seiiora? 

Mrs. Santangelo — Madam Santangelo, sir. 

Santa Anna — Are you the wife of Senor Santangelo? 

Mrs. Santangelo — You know us both very well, sir. 

Santa Anna — What do you wish? 

WLrs. Santangelo — A decisive answer to this letter (handing my 
detter to him). 

Santa Anna — (After a rapid glance at the letter) — I can do 
nothing in the case ; Seiior Barragan is the acting President. 

Mrs. Santangelo — Mr. Barragan says that he is nothing, and 
you are every thing. 

Santa Anna — I shall speak to him. But one week delay is 
•enough, I presume. 

Mrs. Santangelo — It would not be enough to fold up my 
dresses, sir. 

Santa Anna — The banishment does not extend to you, Seiiora. 

Mrs. Santangelo— LmencviW ladies follow their husbands every 
where, in good or bad fortune. 

Santa Anna — Stay with 'us, Seiiorita, you will enjoy my special 
protection. 

Mrs. Santangelo — I wani, as a woman, no other protection than 
that of my husband : and, as an American, that of tlie treaty be- 
tween my country and yours. 

Santa Anna — That treaty is too old, Seiiora, (rising). 1 shall 
soon sign another in Washington, with the point of my sword. 

Mrs. Santangelo — Good bye, sir, (and retired). 

During the absence of my wife, considering that the Consul of 
my nation could and ought to do something in the case, I addressed 
to Mr. Parrott a long note, expressing that if there was ever a cir- 
cuni.'stance in which the diplomatic or commercial agent of a Go- 



103 

vernment must feel bound to protect an individual of his ncition, cru- 
elly trampled upon in the counti;y where he resides, it was certainly 
that in which I called on him, there being at that moment no other 
representative of our Government in Mexico; that since nearly two 
years of my stay there, my conduct had been the most prudent 
and circumspect ; that my establishment of education had caused me 
as much personal labor as pecuniary sacrifices, to bring it to the 
perfection which was now an object of general admiration ; that for 
my " Correo Atlantico," limited to commerce, foreign politics, and 
literature, I had advanced a considerable sum, ''without being now 
able to collect the price of the great number of subscriptions taken 
in the several States of the Republic, nor even of the greatest part 
of those which had been taken in the capital ;" that, whilst I was 
about to gather some profit from so many expenses and so much 
labor, I was banished; that in vain I had endeavored to know the 
reason of such an oppression, some saying that I had ridiculed the 
nation in my paper, others that I had mocked at ihe pronujiciamienio 
lately made in favor of centralism ; others that I was accused of being 
one of the editors of the anti-ministerial journal, '' La Oposicion," and 
many that I had taken the defence of the Texians : that I sent him two 
copies of the whole collection of the paper (Mr. Parrott was himself 
a subscriber to it), one for himself, and another to be forwarded to 
our Government in Washington, for the verification of said im- 
putations, which I declared to be "false, unfounded, and shamelessly 
calumnious;" that if I had made some just and respectful observa- 
tions on some anonymous letters from Monterrey and Matamoras, 
attributing atrocities, assassinations, rebellion, &c., to the North- 
American colonists of Texas, this neither concerned the Gooermntnt 
nor the politics of the country, and "in my double capacity of an 
historian and a citizen of the tjnited States, I had felt bound to re- 
fute falsehoods which could compromise the friendly intercourse 
between the two nations ;" that my sudden banishment destroyed now 
my literary establishment, prevented my collecting Avhat was due 
by the subscribers to my " Correo," rendered it impossible for me 
to dispose of my furniture, &c., and at the same time compelled me 
and my wife to go to be victims of the black vomit in Vera Cruz, 
as had happened in his presence to my son in 1826; that I had so- 
licited the day before, from the acting Minister Monasterio, a delay 
of fifteen days, and had sent for the same purpose to Santa Anna, 
my wife, who had not been even permitted to see him ; that in the 
mean time a ''few hours only remained for me to decide either to 
leave in good will, or be dragged by a military force ; and in either 
case to suffer a spoliation which would reduce me to the most 
extreme distress;" that I entreated him to interpose his offices to 
obtain for me a delay of fifteen days, to avoid, if not totally, at least 
in part, the losses with which I was threatened, and of which I so- 
licited that "an equitable appraisement be made immediately, by 
three or four honorable Americans, to serve me as a title in support 



104 

of such claims as might be lawfully competent in virtue of the ex- 
isting treaties;" that the insult wa^ oflered less to my person than 
to the nation he represented, &c.; and concluded, praying him to 
receive this letter in his Consulate, as a protest against a violence 
w^hich was necessarily to produce my destruction and that of my 
family, and to represent the whole affair to our Government, &c. 
(121) 

This letter was not answered, nor could Mr. Parrott do any 
thing, as he protested in a note written to me some days later, as Ave 
shall see. My wife returned late in the evening, extremely ex- 
hausted by fatigue and want of food, and without any resolution on 
my petition. 

Twenty-seventh of Ju7ie, 1835. — Accompanied by another Ame- 
rican gentleman, Captain West (Mr. Leggett being indisposed), Mrs. 
Santangelo went early in the morning of the 27th June, to see again 
the acting President. He was making his toilet, and then Captain 
West alone was introduced to him. Another dialogue : 

Captain — Mrs. Santangelo comes with me to inform you that 
General Santa Anna sends her again to you for your resolutions on 
the demand of her husband. 

President — I shall go forthwith to Tacubaya, and the matter will 
be settled. 

Captain — At all events, Mr. Santangelo wishes to go at his own 
expense, to embark at Matamoras, to avoid the dangers of Vera Cruz. 

President — His passport cannot be changed. 

Captain — He may die of the yellow fever. 

President — Let him die. 

Captain — His young wife could risk still more. 

President — Let them die both. 

Captain — They have a Mexican chamber-maid with them 

President— LiBt them all die. 

Captain — What answer have I to return to Mrs. Santangelo ? 

President — I go to Tacubaya, "?/ veremos," and we shall see .... 

What a President, good God! Was he not a butcher ! 

Informed of the little consoling result of that interview, and fear- 
ing a surprise, I immediately sent, at eleven o'clock, for some Israel- 
itish pawnbrokers, who were soon followed {fama volat) by some 
native and foreign schoolmasters, ladies, physicians, and all kinds of 
people. My house, kitchen, and school furniture, with a part of the 
objects I had brought from New- York, for the establishment of a 
lyceum in Mexico, was sold in a moment at nearly sixty per cent, 
loss on the just value — total loss upwards of $2,000. The sale of 
my piano, a large assortment of music, a part of my books, some 
valuable pictures, and that part of the wearing apparel of my wife 
which was fit for Mexico and of no avail in foreign parts, such as 
blond mantillas and shawls, velvet, satin and blond dresses, pecu- 
liarly trimmed, expensive head-dresses, &c., caused another loss of 
not less than $1,500, including the import of many valuable objects 



105 

stolen by the crowd, especially articles of china, silver plate, glass 
ware, &c. In the afternoon, nothing remained in my house but 
two small pine tables, two single wool matresses, a rough bedstead, 
five wooden chairs, two brass candlesticks, a few pieces of kitchen 
furniture, and some common earthen ware, the whole of which 
things was afterwards left with our cook as a present. 

Twenty- eighth of June, 1835. — On opening my eyes at day- 
break next day, 28th of June, and on my glancing at the bare walls 
of my bed-room, I felt as if I had been beaten down by robbers, and 
left naked in the middle of a forest. I took courage ; and, always 
in expectation of a violent expulsion, I hastily engaged in packing 
up my luggage. In the evening, however, Captain West, accom- 
panied by the good and honest Colonel Austin, of Texas, came to 
inform me, on the part of the President butcher, that I had the ver- 
bal permission of delaying my departure a feio days longer, under 
the express condition that no noise, no publications through the 
press, no other publicity or impropriety whatever should take place, 
that might displease the Supreme Government 

Third of July, 1835. — I spent the days 29th and SOtn of June, 
and the ist and 2d days of July, in writing my journal, making ac- 
counts, preparations, and also in vain efforts to recover what was 
due to my boarding and day school, or to my " Correo," by many 
deaf subscribers in the city. A sepulchral silence reigned every 
where, and only soldiers were seen running about the city, catching 
Indians, mules, horses, &c., for the army, whilst the Government 
was imposing taxes and forced loans to face the expenses of the im- 
minent expedition against Texas. I was apprized that on the same 
day in which my passport had been signed, the expulsion of the 
editor of the paper " La Oposicion " had been ordered, and the arrest 
of General Don Pablo Anaya executed. All my best friends had 
disappeared. Zavala had been cunningly sent as Ambassador to 
Paris, and Basadre to Berlin. General Mexia and ex- Vice-Presi- 
dent Farias had emigrated to New-Orleans, and innumerable other 
patriots, especially members of the Congress of 1833, amongst 
whom was Seiior Rejon, had absconded, or were flying from State 
to State. Pedraza was writing a good paper called ''El Crepusciilo," 
but the police could not discover the place of his abode. The coun- 
try was but a vast galley under the lash of a pitiless overseer. No 
wonder, therefore, if not one single word was heard about my ban- 
ishment. The press ought either to remain silent, or flatter the 
tyrant; and even silent editors were deemed to be guilty or suspect- 
ed Nor did I receive any visit on that occasion, except 

from some foreigners. Spies were walking day and night around 

my dwelling But this very profound silence in regard 

to my expulsion, whilst keeping me in the vexatious curiosity of 
knowing the reasons or pretexts which had actuated the Executive 
of the Republic to order it, was evidently both a luminous evidence 
of my innocence, and an expression of general disapprobation far 
14 



106 

inoie eloquent than the tumultuous attacks made on that Govern- 
ment when it ordered my first banishment in 182G. 

The gentlemen requested to give, under oath, their opinion about 
the amount of the damages actually caused to me by this second 
banishment from Mexico, without any reference to those which 
were the result of my^rs^ banishment of July 1826, were two citi- 
zens of the United States, Messrs. Aaron Leggett, and J. Ysidoro 
Reed, and a Frenchman, Mr. C. Abadie ; all of them well known 
to the Consul of the United States, and highly respectable and re- 
spected in the country. They took into consideration the breaking 
up of my boarding school in New- York ; the costly objects which 
I had brought with me for the establishment of a lyceura in Mexi- 
co; my voyage with my wife, a chamber-maid, and a professor of 
natural sciences, besides the freight for the transportation of said 
objects, from New- York to New-Orleans; my long and expensive 
stay in that city during the prevalence of cholera morbus and the 
yellow fever, waiting for the orders of Santa Anna; my voyage and 
the transport of said objects, from New-Orleans to Vera Cruz; my 
forced stay in that port until I was permitted to advance into the 
interior of the country; our journey, four persons in all, from Vera 
Cruz to Mexico, by the stage; the transport of fifteen large boxes, 
containing said objects for the lyceum, on mules, and that of my 
piano on the cars of the conducta ; my stay in Mexico vainly wait- 
ing for a proper locality for the establishment of said lyceum, falsely 
promised by the Government, until I was able to open at my own 
risk a private literary institute ; the trespass paid for the house taken 
for this purpose; the expenses made for its establishment, including 
house and school furniture, which in Mexico is extremely dear ; the 
loss of the actual profit from said institute with the certainty of a 
great increase^ the loss of school money due by pupils ; the ad- 
vances made for the establishment of the "Correo Atlantico;" the 
loss of the actual and constantly increasing annual profit from the 
same ; the actual loss of what was already due by subscribers to it ; 
the loss just sustained from the hasty sale of my furniture and other 
objects on being banished ; the expense I ought to meet for my 
voyage by land and sea from the city of Mexico to a port of the 
United States, three persons with a heavy baggage; the actual 
assault on my liberty and honor, and the exposure of my life and 
that of my family, to the evident danger of all of us falling victims 
to the yellow fever in Vera Cruz; the ruinous loss of time from the 
day of my removal from New-York to that of my quitting Mexico, 
in virtue of a despotic measure against the laws of the country and 
the treaty between Mexico and the United States, and up to the time 
in which I could draw from a new establishment in the United States 
a competent sustenance, &c. For which the abovenamed gentlemen 
were unanimously of opinion that the amount of the damages pro- 
duced by this my second banishment from Mexico, could not be esti- 
mated at a less sum than one hundred thousand dollars. 



107 

Although this estimate was evidently far below the just amount, 
still there being no time for discussions, and reserving a better cal- 
culation I had the right of making, I hastily adopted it, and entered 
accordingly in the Consulate of the United States, the following 
formal protest : 

" Consulate of the United States of America, 

For the City of Mexico: 

" By this public instrument of protest, be it known to all to whom 
these presents shall come : 

" That on this day, 3d of July, 1835, before me, William S. Par- 
xott, Consul of the United States of America, for the city of Mexico, 
has personally appeared, in the office of my Consulate, O. de A. 
Santangelo, to me well known as a citizen of the United States, and 
being duly sworn, he has declared, and does declare, affirm and 
protest : 

" That having repaired in April, 1833, to Mexico, for the purpose 
of claiming from the General Government of the country an in- 
demnity of about thirty thousand dollars, due to him for many pre- 
judices and damages caused to him, in 1826, by a scandalous and 
notorious abuse of power on the part of said Government, in con- 
sequence of which he, the said O. de A. Santangelo, had also lost 
his only son Francis de Attellis Santangelo ; and not having been 
able to ask justice from the Mexican Congress on account of the 
country having been, since that period, in perpetual convulsions and 
civil wars, he was obliged to establish a literary institute for the 
moral and scientific education of youth of both sexes; for which he 
had previously obtained a written authorization from the Corpora- 
tion of the city, called Ayuntamiento, and the Governor of the Dis- 
trict, General Ignacio Martinez; and the said establishment was now 
flourishing so as to produce a revenue of above six t/iousafid dollars 
per annum, with the strongest evidence of its becoming daily more 
and more profitable. 

" That he, the said O. de A. Santangelo, had commenced, on the 
1st of May last, the publication of a semi- weekly polyglot, commer- 
cial, political and literary neAVspaper, under the title of 'El Correo 
Atlantico,' to which the General Government itself was a subscriber 
for twelve copies ; and for the establishment and first publication of 
which, up to its sixteenth number, he has spent a sum of not less 
than one Ihoiisand seven hundred dollars, without his having had 
the necessary time to recover the money already due to him from 
numerous subscribers in many distant States of the Mexican Union. 

''That whilst the above business was peacefully, honorably and 
profitably going on, lo ailing for a better opportuniti/ of presenting 
his aforesaid claims to the Mexican Congress, he the said O. de A. 
Santangelo, has suddenly received on the 25th of the last month of 
June, from the (^Tovernor of the District, General Ramon Rayon, a 
passport signed by the Provisional Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jose 
Maria Ortiz Monasterio, containing an order to leave this city in the 



108 

space of three days, to go to Vera Cruz, and to embark for foreign 
parts, being moreover tlireatened verbally by said Governor that, in 
case of non-compliance, force toould be used. 

" That the order having been issued without any judiciary form, 
or knowledge of the diplomatic or commercial agents of the United 
States of America, or any knoimi motive at all, but for the under- 
signed having perhaps displeased the f resent absolute ruler of the 
Mexican destinies, by having defended, in the numbers thirteenth 
and fourteenth (of said Correo), the innocence of the American colo- 
nists of Texas, against the most infamous calumnies of some of the 
public writers amongst the natives, as it will be seen by the entire 
collection from the first to the sixteenth number, presented in the 
Consulate in. duplicate, and the arbitrary proceedings of the Mexi- 
can Government towards foreigners in general, and American citi- 
zens in f articular, h^vag highly injurious to all nations, and in this 
case openly destructive of the article 112, and others of the Consti- 
tution of this country, and of the articles 14th and 15th of the 
treaty of amity, commerce and navigation, concluded on the 5th of 
April, 1831, between the United States of America and the United 
Mexican States, it is indispensable for the cabinet, Congress, justices, 
public press and the people at large of the United States, to take the 
most efficient and speedy measures to contain this people and Go- 
vernment within just bounds, and to protect the property, lives and 
honor of our fellow-citizens, against the innumerable and unceasing 
offences they have sustained, in spite of public and private morality, 
the law of nations and the abovementioned treaty. 

" For this reason of public interest, and because the undersigned 
is personally the victim of a treatment that causes the most ruinous 
effects to his liberty, his property, and his honor, and puts evidently 
in danger his life, and that of his wife, a native of Pennsylvania, 
being both compelled by a Mexican despot to go and embark at 
Vera Cruz, at a time when the yellow fever is making the most hor- 
rible ravages in that port — 

" The undersigned does declare, and most solemnly protests : 

•' 1st. That his illegal and mysterious banishment prevents him 
from deducing his action for redress and indevmification for the 
amount of about thirty thousand dollars abovementioned. 

'' 2dly. That the same banishment causes to him the spoliation of a 
rent of above six thousand dollars per annum, the produce of his 
literary institute, now in action under the direction of his wife 
Marietta de A. Santangelo, Refugio street, No, 13, in the city of 
Mexico. 

'' 3dly. That he is deprived likewise, by the same act of violence, 
of a sum of more than two thousand dollars he had employed under 
the safeguard of the treaty, and of the laws of hospitality, for the 
first establishment of the said institute, and is at once prevented from 
recovering even the small sum of nearly four hundred dollars due 
to him by some of his pupils of both sexes. 



109 

•' 4thly. That his banishment causes him to lose a sum of not less 
than one thousand seven hundred dollars he had employed for the 
establishment of his Atlantic Courier, without even leaving him the 
time to receive the amount of nearly two thousand dollars due to him 
by numerous subscribers in the different States. 

" 5thly. That not having been allowed sufficient time to sell his 
valuable furniture at its fair value, another loss of above two thou- 
sand dollars, is to him the result of the atrocious treatment of which 
he is the unfortunate victim. 

" 6thly. That having received no aid, or help at all from the Mexi- 
can Government for the execution of so long, painful, costly and 
dangerous travel from this city to any of the ports of the United 
States of America, he, the undersigned, and his wife have been 
obliged to sell almost all their personal apparel, at an evident loss 
of more than one thousand and five hundred dollars, to employ this 
sum in a forced journey which they never desired nor merited. 

" The undersigned protests, therefore, against the Mexican Go- 
vernment, and before the Government of the United States of Ame- 
rica, that, by the abovementioned facts, he is legally and fully entitled 
to an indemnity of not less than one hundred thousmid dollars, ac- 
cording to the judgment of the undersigned gentlemen, who have 
been respectfully requested to give their free and conscientious opi- 
nion of the matter. 

"And moreover be formally requires his present protest to be re- 
ceived and filed in the protocols of the Consulate of the United 
States of America, in this city. 

'' Finally, he further and solemnly protests against the Mexican 
Government for any other probable or possible damages, prejudices 
and losses that mai/ hereafter result from his cruel, unjust, and un- 
lawful banishment, either to himself or to his wife or servants in 
their common or respective property, as well as in their liberty, 
health, life and honor, in case of a highway robbery, murder, sick- 
ness, death from pestilence, shipwreck, or any other accident what- 

®^®^- " O. DE A. Santangelo." 

''In testimony, whereof, and in compliance with the request of O, 
de A. Santangelo, a citizen of the United States of America, I here- 
unto set my hand and seal of office, in the city of Mexico, the day 

and year above written. ., x,7 o -d / mr. \ 

,, ^ r T-, J „ "William S. Parrott. ( 122 ) 

'' Copy from Record. ^ ' 

The declaration of the gentlemen named in the preceding protest, 
as appraisers of the amount of the damages mentioned therein, was 
the following : 

•' Consulate of the United States of America, 

For the City of Mexico : 
" Be it remembered, that C. Abadie, a Frenchman, Aaron Leg- 
gett and J. Ysidoro Reed, citizens of the United States of America, 
well known to me, personally appeared in my office, and made 



110 

oath to the following, subscribed to by each, the original of which 
is lodged in this Consulate. With a full knowledge of the circum- 
stances of the forcible and unjust expulsion of Mr. Oracio de A. 
Santangelo, a citizen of the United States, from this city and country, 
and obliging him to embark from the port of Vera Cruz, at a time 
when the yellow fever is raging violently there; 

'• ' We, the subscribers, citizens of the United States, and France, 
do hereby certify that, according to our unbiased judgment, the 
damages and losses sustained by Mr. Santangelo cannot be estimated 
at a less sum than one hv/ndred thousand dollars.^ 

" C. Abadie, 
''Aaron Leggett, 

., Tv/r r? o loor" "J. YsiDoRO Reed. 

"Mexico, Jtt/?/ 3, 1835. 

" In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand and seal of office, 
in the city of Mexico, this third day of July, in the year one thou- 
sand eight hundred and thirty-five. , ^^^ g Parj,ott.( 123 ) 

'' Copy irom Record. ^ ' 

The two foregoing documents were sent to me, in authentic form, 
in the afternoon, together with a note of the same date, 3d July, from 
Mr. Leggett, which shows the terror, under which our fellow-citi- 
zens were laboring at the time, in Mexico, thus conceived: 

"Mexico, July ^, 1835. 
"O. DE A, Santangelo : 

"Sir: I am sorry to return your protest with the name of only 
one American besides my own, affixed to the certificate annexed to 
it. 1 showed it to several Americans and others, all of whom very 
freely expressed their opinions of the injustice of your banishment, 
and of its ruinous effects, and that the amount of indemnity teas not 
too large; nevertheless all and every one that 1 saw and conversed 
with, very reluctantly desired to be excused from putting his name 
to the certificate, saying, that as they were settled in business, and 
some with Mexican families, it would be exposing them to like 
cruelty and injustice that you are noto suffering^ and through fear 
they dare not put their names to the certificate, although they thought 
it perfectly just. The reason of their excuses you will duly appre- 
ciate, as you so loell knoio the poioer and influence lohich reign. I 
can assure you that not a single individual declined to sign the cer- 
tificate, but with earnest expressions of regret, that seeing it J7ist, yet 
they dare not do it through fear of the Government, and of being 
injured in some way or other in their business. Wishing you a 
safe journey and passage to New-Orleans, or such place as you may 
embark for, I am, respectfully, your assured friend, 

"Aaron Leggett." ( 124 ) 

What a respectable Government! What a happy, free and 
enlightened country! What a brave and courageous people! 
Could Santangelo deserve the honor of living amongst them ? Were 



Ill 

not Messrs. Van Bureii, Forsyth & Co., pevfecily viglit in paying- 
their adorations and submissive homage to that dear, amiable and 
blessed sister Republic? Are not the citizens of the United States, 
who have claims on Mexico, justly immolated by their own Govern- 
ment to those deities of Anahuac 1 

The Consul of the United States, Mr. Parrott, had the goodness 
to send me, under the same date, of the 3d July, a passport, regis- 
tered at fol. 16, No. 36, to avail myself of it whenever and wherever 
it was not convenient for me to show the honorable signature of the 
Secretary of State, Monasterio. ( 125 ) 

Sixth of July J 1835. — I acknowledged the receipt of an authentic 
copy of the protest entered in the Consulate of the United States, on 
the 3d instant, through the following letter to the Consul ; 

"Mexico, July 6t/i, 1835. 
" To William S. Parrott: 

''Consul of the United States of America, 

For the City of Mexico: 

" Dear Sir: I have thankfully received the legal copy of my 
protest for redress, damages, &c., that I had the honor to leave with 
you to be filed in the protocols of your Consulate : but I had for- 
gotten to ask you what answer you have received from the Mexican 
Government, with respect to its having violated, so openly in my case 
the article xiv of the treaty of amity, commerce and naviga- 
tion, between the United States of America and the Mexican United 
States, concluded on the 5th April, 1831, and conceived thus: [the 
article is transcribed]. I do not doubt, sir, of your having employed 
all means.lying in your power, and within the bounds of your attribu- 
tions, to cause the Mexican Government to respect the above men- 
tioned treaty, of which it cannot be ignorant. I am likewise per- 
suaded of your considering this question as concerning, not my case 
or person alone, but the personal security and the dearest interests 
of all our countrymen, settled, as I was, in this country. But I 
think to have also the right of becoming acquainted, before my 
leaving this country, through your official intervention, both with 
the motives of my expulsion and with the reasons, by which said 
Government, be in its fancy the motives of its conduct whatever they 
may, intends to justify the violation of the article xiv of the treaty 
above transcribed. 

" I am, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, 

" O. de a. Santangelo." ( 126 ) 

The ansvi^er was this : 

" Consulate of the United States of America, ) 

"Mexico, July 6t/i, 1835. \ 
"O. be a. Santangelo, Esq. — Mexico: 

*' Sir : Your note of this date, requesting to know what answer 
the Mexican Government had given in relation of the violation of 
the article xiv of the treaty existing between the United States of 



112 

America and the Mexican United Stales, in your person, has been 
received. You seem to have misiaicen the character of my repre- 
sentation here. I am nothing but a consul ; have no right or in- 
strtictinns to communicate with this Government, and the more 
especially in matters emanating from it ; nor icoulcl it receive my 
comviunicaiions. The matter is to be regretted, and the remedy can 
only be found when our Government has a diplomatic agent here. 
" I am, dear sir, most respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"William S. Parrott." ( 126) 

NoTA. — Mr. Parrott was perfectly right, if not in law, at least in 
fact. He was, long before his appointment as Consul of the United 
States in Mexico, a merchant having extensive business with a great 
number of influential Mexican houses. In the terror which reigned 
there at the period of my expulsion, he would have met with serious 
evils, both in his property and person, had he opposed the will of 
Csesar ; and in fact, victim himself, a little later, of the brutality of 
the Mexican Government, he is now one of the unfortunate claim- 
ants under the Convention of the 11th April, 1839. This teaches 
all Governments never to trust their representation in foreign coun- 
tries to individuals, that, on account of their personal engagements 
in commercial business, could not energetically comply with their 
official duties, Avithout exposing themselves to certain ruia All 
commercial or diplomatic agents in foreign lands ought to be inde- 
pendent of all subjection or influence that might prevent them from 
showing their teeth, when necessary, in support of those national or 
individual rights, with the guardianship of which they have been 
trusted. In my case, the reasons of my banishment being utterly 
unknown, I do not see why a commercial agent ought not to have 
interfered in my behalf Was I not a merchant 1 Was I not sel- 
ling knowledge to the ignorant, and newspapers to the public 1 Is 
not mental industry a commercial branch? Ought the condition of 
a dealer in cod-fish, brandy or cabbages, be better protected than that 
of a man who sells the produce of his own studies and talents ? Let 
our consuls and soi disant statesmen study political economy, and 
they will learn that knowledge, when bought and sold, is nothing 
but a merchandise, truly important, inasmuch as it is the only pillar 
on which the true wealth of nations reposes. My trade was dis- 
turbed in 1835, by two land pirates, called Santa Anna and Monas- 
terio, constituting a Government. A French consul would have 
asked immediate redress in my behalf, or his passport. 

Seventh of July, 1835. — Here I wish to lay before the judges of 
my claims, and the public, a letter written in my favor by a gentle- 
man whose impartiality cannot be suspected, and whose morality 
was an axiom among the Mexicans themselves. This letter, not 
delivered, is in my power. 

" City of Mexico, July 7th, 1835. 

" Dear Sir : The bearer of this, Mr. O. de A. Santangelo, has 



113 

been banished from this country, by an order from the Executive of 
the United Mexican States. In iinion with Mrs. Santarigelo, he had 
established a literary/ institution in this city for the education of 
both sexes, which was flourishing, and had obtained a highly respect- 
able reputation. I know nothing of the cause of his banishment, 
except from common rumor, which says that it is for having insert- 
ed something offensive in the ' Correo Atiantico,' a newspaper 
edited by him. This sudden and unexpected measure has of course 
broken up his school, and involved him in a pecuniary loss, by the 
forced sale of his furniture, books, &c. It has also deranged all his 
means of procuring a subsistence in this country, where, as a citi- 
zen of the United States, he says he calculated on protection under 
the treaty between the two nations. He is therefore compelled to 
seek employment elsewhere. Should it be in your power to render 
him any friendly assistance by introducing him to your friends, you 
will oblige your most obedient servant, S. F; Austin. 

" To H. Meigs, Esq., New- York." ( 127 ) 

Ninth of July, 1835. — The Governor had now urged me to leave 
his District forthwith. The road from Mexico to Vera Cruz was 
infested by robbers, and scarcely a diligencia (stage) escaped their 
rapacity, whilst the convoys of beasts of burden passed, with few 
exceptions, unmolested. I had, on the other hand, to fear on my 
transit a personal assault from emissaries of Santa Anna, who, con- 
scious of his treacherous and ungrateful conduct towards me, would 
probably snatch from my hands his past epistolary correspondence 
with me, or any other documents of his base perfidy. These con- 
siderations led me to leave with Messrs. Manning & Marshall, of 
Mexico^ eight large packages to be sent by them on mules to Vera 
Cruz, and thence to the United States. I then took with me a few 
clothes and some gold, and enclosed, of course, in those packages 
every other valuable object I and my wife possessed, besides a sum 
of eighteen hundred dollars in silver. I moreover left my wife be- 
hind, to cause my executioners to believ^e that I was still in town, 
and thus disconcert any plan of assault on the road ; and, assuming 
a false name, suddenly and secretly started on the night of from the 
8th to the 9th of July, and safely reached Xalapa in three days. 
There my wife, with her chamber-maid, joined me within a few days, 
in company with Colonel Austin, on his way to Texas. She put 
me in possession of two letters of recommendation, with which Mr. 
Leggett had favored us, and are still in my power. Considering 
them as forming a part of the testimony in support of my claim, I 
have filed them amongst my documents, and here submit to the 
public a literal copy of them : 

"Mexico, July 10th, 1835. 
"William Emerson, Esq. 

"Esteemed Friend: With much pleasure I introduce to your 
acquaintance my friend Mr. O. de A. Santangelo, who has been 
15 



114 

cruelly and unlawfully/ banished, although an A^nerican citizen, by 
the Supreme Mexican Government, and with his wife embarks in 
the next packet for New-York. Mr. Santangelo and his wife have 
been engaged in establishing, and very successfully^ a large literary 
institute in this city, and recently they added to their useful labors 
a semi-tocekly paper. Mr. Santangelo had been a correspondent 
and a confidential friend of General Santa Anna; but political 
changes led to a coolness, and this banishment is the product of the 
jealousy of the latter. Mr. Santangelo intends going to Washington, 
to present his case to our Government, and to endeavor to obtain a 
just indemnity for this ruinous, unfust and illegal act, by which he 
is a great sufferer .^ and the rights of every American invaded. Mr. 
Santangelo is a gentleman of merit, and of high respectability, and 
his wife (a Philadelphian) is a lady of superior acquirements, and 
their banishment is considered by the liberal and enlightened part 
of the most respectable circles in this city as a public loss. Any 
advice or assistance you can render him in properly presenting 
himself at Washington with his complaints, or that he may need in 
New- York in making newspaper publications, and in becoming ac- 
quainted with suitable persons to assist in arousing public attention, 
to the cruelty and barbarous acts of an unjust and corrupt Govern- 
'/nent, will be doing a kindness and adding to many obligations of, 
r-espectfully, j;^our assured friend,. 

''Aaron Leggett." ( 128 ) 

"Mexico, July I2th, 1835. 
" Doctor Hitchcock, 

Health Physician, Staten Island: 

"Respected Friend: This will be handed to you by Mr. O. 
de A. Santangelo, who with his wife goes to Vera Cruz, and thence 
to New- York, and consequently must be subject to our quarantine 
laws. Mr. Santangelo is a gentleman of high respectabilitj'-, and is 
a citizen of the United States. Mrs. Santangelo is a Philadel- 
phia lady of high esteem. They have been engaged in establishing 
a literary institute in this city, which was very profitable and 
flourishing: and also in establishing a semi-weekly paper. Mr. 
Santangelo is suddenly and tvithout cause banished from this coun- 
try by order of the Supreme Government, and was ordered to leave 
in three days from the 25th ultimo ; the interference of Mrs. S. and 
myself with General Santa Anna, General Barragan the acting 
President, and Mr. Tornel the Secretary of War, obtained a few 
days' indulgence, to enable Mr. S. to sell his eflfects, by which to raise 
means to defray their expenses to New- York. His intention is 
to proceed direct to Washington to present his case to our Govern- 
raeat, and I have to solicit of you to extend towards Mr. and Mrs. 
Santangelo and their servant woman, every indulgence that the law 
will admit, in prosecuting their journey ; and if the circumstances 
under which the vessel may arrive at quarantine, shall make it ne- 



115 

cessary for them to remain at Staten Island, that you extend to them 
such civilities as your public duties will permit. I hope to have 
the pleasure of seeing you in October next, and regret that a whole 
year has passed since I have been in this city, and I have done 
nothing except to witness that the Mexican Government, in all its 
branches, is corrupt and ignorant, unprinci'pled and unjust, disre- 
garding the treaties with other nations and the rights of strangers^ 
and going on headlong into ruin, bankruvtcy and despotism. 
''Respectfully, your old friend and acquaintance, 

"Aaron Leggett." ( 129 ) 

A letter also was handed me, under the same date, of Mexico, 12th 
July, addressed by Messrs. Manning & Marshall of that city to 
Messrs. Hermann & Co. in New-Orleans, about my eight packages, 
in the following terms : 

" Gentlemen: The bearer of this letter is Mr. Santangelo, for 
whom we have forwarded to Vera Cruz eight packages of luggage, 
with direction to our firm there to ship them to your address. You 
will receive from Messrs. Manning, Marshall & Co., a note of the 
expenses thereon, on the payment of which, and your own charges, 
have the goodness to deliver the luggage to Mr. Santangelo. 

" We remain, gentlemen, your most obedient servants, 

''For Manning & Marshall, 
"A. Grant." (130) 

Twentieth of July, 1835. — To avoid as far as possible the danger 
of an attack of the yellow fever, actually ravaging the city of Vera 
Cruz, I stopped in Xalapa, and wrote under date of July 17th a note 
to Messrs. Manning, Marshall & Co., of that place, entreating them 
to contract there for my passage to New-Orleans, and make me 
acquainted with the day fixed for the departure, in order to repair 
there in time, and embark immediately, without exposing myself 
and family to catch the reigning epidemic; to which said gentlemen 
returned the following answer : 

"Vera Cruz, July 20th, 1835. 
"Mr. O. de a. Santangelo, Xalapa: 

"Dear Sir: By the last mail we addressed you a few lines, 
acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 17th. The present is 
now reduced to inform you that Ave have contracted for two berths for 
you and your lady, and another for your servant, in the brig Wan- 
derer, Captain Welsh, for one hundred and thirty dollars the three 
places, from Vera Cruz to the Balize, whence you will go in a 
steamboat to New-Orleans, aJ your oion expense, (ten dollars each). 
This bargain has been concluded in the intelligence that you must 
find yourselves here on Saturday morning, the 25th instant, on which 
day the vessel will sail for the abovementioned point. 

'' We repeat ourselves to be, your true servants, who kiss your 

^^"^^' " Manning, Marshall & Co." ( 121 ) 



116 

Twenty-tJiinl of fidy, 1835. — My passage was accordingly paid 
by said gentlemen, on my account, and the receipt was delivered, as 
follows : 

'' Received of Messrs. Manning, Marshall & Co., the sum of one 
hundred and thirty dollars, for the passage on board of the brig 
Wanderer, Capt. Welsh, of Mr. Santangelo, his lady and a cham- 
ber-maid. 

"$130. " MuNoz Matfelt. 

" Vera Cruz, July Zd, 1835." ( 132 ) 

Tweniy-seveidh of July^ 1835. — I was ready with my family to 
embark in Vera Cruz, on the morning of the 25th, as warned by 
Messrs. Manning, Marshall & Co., through their note of the 20th. 
But the vessel did not sail until the 27th, and the consequence of this 
was, that both my wife and her chamber-maid were attacked by the 
yellow fever, which developed itself on the first days of August, in 
the middle of that very gulf, which had been, in 1826, the tomb of 
my dear and only son. The attack was however mild enough to 
permit the sufferers to be placed, on our landing in New- Orleans, 
under the care of the skilful German physician. Dr. Halphen, whose 
bill is filed in my documents. ( 133 ) 

Thirteenth of August, 1835. — The "Bee," of New- Orleans, had 
given, on the 12th of August, a mistaken idea of my banishment from 
Mexico, from some communication from its badly informed corres- 
pondents in that country; and, after having rectified it, on the 13th, 
the editors said: 

'' We smiled at an anecdote told us yesterday by a former intimate 
of Santa Anna. He was endeavoring to prevail on our informant 
to write articles in his behalf for the journals in Europe and this 
country, and that he would have them distributed through Mexico, 
where, he said, they would make a much greater impression than 
any article or documents published at home. It would then appear 
to the Mexicans that it was the belief of foreign nations that Santa 
Anna could and should wield the destinies of the Mexican nation, 
and that the choice was one of policy and prudence, as of necessity. 
He would foment disturbances at home, to make the extraneous or 
external advice of more effect : ' for,' added he, ' I wish to appear as 
a virgiii more desired than seeming to desire.^ Such Avas the policy 
of Cromwell and Napoleon, and such is the scheme of the desires of 
the desirer of the Mexican Government — the virgin President ! 

" We publish the following documents, to awaken the attention of 
the General Government and the public to the melancholy condition 
of the American citizens resident in Mexico. It appears that the 
Mexican Government rules them with a rod of iron ; that a law of 
its Congress has been made in open and direct violation of an arti- 
cle of the treaty with this Government ; and that our fellow-citizens 
there are left without any redress, in consequence of the departure 
of the American Charge d' Affaires. The system of proscription is 



117 

so I'igid, that even the Americans themselves are each afraid of 
acting in unison, knowing their paucity and weakness. Indeed we 
learn that the system of espionage and oppression on the part of the 
Mexican Government, individual and general, was the true reason 
for Colonel Butler's leaving Mexico. It is time for the American 
Government to consider minutely and maturely our relations with 
Mexico." ( 134 ) 

NoTA. — The documents mentioned in this editorial, were, my 
protest, the sworn declaration of Messrs. Abadie, Leggett and Reed, 
and the letter of Mr. Leggett, all dated July 3d ; and my note to Mr. 
Parrott, and his answer, both dated the 6th — useless publications ! 

Nineteenth of October, 1835. — Thanks to Providence, I was far 
from the Mexican shores, but uneasy for the non-appearance of my 
eight trunks. Nearly two months and a half had elapsed since my 
arrival at New-Orleans, without receiving the trunks, nor the least 
information about them. I had every harm to expect from the fell 
ribaldry of the Mexican President ; and in fact my presentiments 
proved well founded. By the brig '' Manilla," which cast anchor in 
that port in the night of the iSth of October, I received early in the 
morning of the 19th, the following letter : 

(" Per Manilla.) " Vera Cruz, August ISth, 1835. 

'' O. DE A. Santangelo, New-Orleans : 

" Sir : We have the pleasure to inform you that we have shipped 
by the present opportunity to Messrs. Hermann & Co., Y. Z. X. 
eight trunks luggage, received from Mexico on your account. This 
is the first vessel that has offered since your departure, they not 
having arrived in time for the ' Correo de Tampico.' You will per- 
haps remember these things Avere delivered to E. Vasquez ; this 
arriero (muleteer) was embargoed in Puebla, and despatched by 
the Government with his recua (drove of mules) to Chihuahua (near 
Texas). To prevent a disappointment, he delivered your trunks to 
B. friend, who brought them down here; but on the road, six of his 
mules were carried aAvay bi/ a torrent, and unfortunately two of 
your trunks with them, which, with considerable difficulty^ were 
subsequently recovered. Your wearing apparel he had washed and 
dried, but the books are considerably damaged. We endeavored to 
make the arriero answerable for the loss sustained, and finally agreed 
to a deduction of thirty-six dollars in his freight, which we trust may 
prove satisfactory. The arriero in Chihuahua is the only respon- 
sible person in the matter. We annex note of disbursements on 
your account, together forty dollars, which we shall feel obliged by 
your paying to Messrs. Hermann & Co., on account of our Mexican 
establishment. 

" We remain with respect, sir, your most obedient servants, 
''For Manning, Marshall & Co., 
" Daniel Price." 

(Follows the note of disbursements,) ( 135 ) 



118 

This sum of forty dollars, together with the freight of the eight 
trunks by the Manilla, the permission of the custom-house, cartage, 
(fcc, formed the amount of seventy-four dollars and eighty-five cents, 
which I paid to Messrs. Hermann &. Co., on the presentation of 
their bill of the same date, 19th of October. ( 126 ) 

The trunks were then brought to my house, covered with bagging, 
and tied with ropes, whilst 1 was not in ; and on my coming home, 
I found six of them broken open. My anxiety was indescribable ; 
they were pillaged of every thing valuable; a large segar box, marked 
"Mexican papers," had disappeared, and all my books and manu- 
scripts had been wet, and reduced to a fetid mass of putrefaction. I 
had every thing taken out immediately from the trunks, when Mr. 
Gustavus Smith, a respectable lawyer of the place, happened to pay 
me a visit, witnessed that spectacle, and heard my inconsolable lamen- 
tations, and those of my good wife. His affidavit will be transcribed 
here, under date of January 30th, of the present year. 

Twenty-first of October^ 1835. — I shall here transcribe a letter 
which I wrote, dated October 21st, to Messrs. Manning, Marshall 
& Co., of Vera Cruz: 

" Gentlemen : Your favor of the 18th of August uhimo, has 
duly come to hand, by which you inform me that the arriero E. 
Vasquez, whom your correspondents, Messrs. Manning & Marshall 
of Mexico, had trusted with my eight trunks, was embargoed in 
Puebla, on his way to Vera Cruz, and despatched by the Govern- 
ment with his recvM to Chihuahua ; that he delivered, then, my 
trunks to 'a friend,' who brought them down to Vera Cruz; that 
on the road six of his mules were carried away by a torrent, and 
two of my trunks with them; that my Avearing apparel he, the 
friend, had washed and dried ; that the books were cojisiderably 
damaged ; that you endeavored to make the arriero answerable for 
the loss sustained ; that, finally, you agreed to a deduction of thirty- 
six dollars from his freight, which you trust may prove satisfactory ; 
and that the arriero in Chihuahua (at five hundred leagues distance) 
is the only responsible person in the matter, &c. 

'' I think, gentlemen, that Messrs. Manning & Marshall, of Mexi- 
co, to whom I consigned my eight trunks on my leaving that city, 
ought to claim, not against the arriero, who was forcibly obliged by 
the Government to abandon my trunks to other not responsible and 
unknown persons, but against the Government itself^ for having 
seized an arriero and his mules while transporting the only fortune 
of an innocent and oppressed foreigner, who, banished by it, had an 
indisputable right to have his baggage brought in security to the 
place of his destination. But, does not the fact alone of the name of 
the pretended friend, to whom the embargoed Vasquez is said to 
have delivered my trunks, having remained unknoum to me and to 
yourself, suffice to convince you and your correspondents in Mexico, 
that the whole transaction was an intrigue? I have now the honor 
of informing you thai not two trimks, as you say, but six out of the 



119 

eight I have found broken open ; that they have been plundered of 
all valuable objects, to the amount of upivards of three thousand dol- 
lars; that as to my wearmg apparel, and that of my wife, it has 
been partly stolen, partly unskilfully wet, to give a color of truth to 
the tale of the torrent ; that the circumstance of there being no tor- 
rents on that road, cannot be unknown to you : that not only my 
books are considerably damaged, but all my numerous and pre- 
cious ma7iuscripts, family papers, important documents, &c., horri- 
bly ruined; that a box containing exclusively ' Papeles Mejicanos' 
(Mexican papers) has disappeared, &c. What is then a deduction 
of thirty-six dollars on the fveightl Is not such an indemnity at 
least as ridiculous as the story of the torrent ? But you know 
nothing about this ; you only have repeated the tale as related to 
you by the friend ; and I cannot complain but of another good friend, 
under whose infernal grasp your unhappy country is now laboring. 
I would only entreat you to make me acquainted with the name of 
ihe friend, which does not appear //-om any of your bills for money 
paid to him and others on my account, and which I have reimbursed 
here to Messrs. Hermann & Co., by your order. This favor will 
greatly oblige your most obedient servant, 

"O. DE A. Santangelo." ( 137 ) 
This letter was never answered. 

Twenty-third of October, 1835. — I had prepared a statement of 
this new infamous trick'of the Mexican despot to have it published 
in the " Bee ;" but, having shown it to Mr. G. Schmidt, on the 23d 
of said month of October, for his corrections of my bad English, he 
advised me not to publish it, but only to ''apply to our Government 
for redress ;" which he likewise certifies in his affidavit. But, as it 
contains a detail of the articles stolen, and the manuscripts stolen or 
destroyed, I think it proper to give it a place here. 

" To THE Editors of the New-Orleans Bee : 

''Gentlemen: The following occurrence will throw a new 
light on the character of the famous Santa Anna, the Mexican Pre- 
sident. 

''Banished by him, as you know, in June last, from Mexico, I 
was obliged to leave behind eight trunks with Messrs. Manning & 
Marshall, of that city, to be forvi^arded by them to their correspon- 
dents Messrs. Manning, Marshall & Co., at Vera Cruz, and shipped 
by the latter for New-Orleans, where I had proposed to go. 

''As the diligencias (stages) were almost daily assaulted by rob- 
bers on the road from Mexico to Vera Cruz, and the beasts of burden 
commonly untouched, I had placed in those trunks all that I pos- 
sessed of some value, taking with me only some money in gold, a 
small quantity of clothes for myself and my wife, and a few papers. 
Said trunks, however, did not make their appearance here until the 
18th instant, brought by the schooner Manilla, and consigned to 
Messrs. Hermann & Co., of this city, from whom I have received 



120 

them, together with a letter I'rom Messrs. Manning, Marshall & Co., 
of Vera Cruz, dated 18th of August, and stating that the arriero 
(mulateer), E. Vasquez, who had received my trunks in Mexico, 
had been embargoed in Puebla by the Supreme Government, and 
despatched with his recua (drove of mules) to Chihuahua ; that Vas- 
quez, to prevent a disappointment, had delivered my trunks to a 
friend (not named), who had on his way six of his mules carried 
away by a torrent with two of my trunks; that my wearing apparel 
had been washed and dried (consequently my trunks broken open), 
but my books were co^isiderably damaged; that a deduction of 
thirty-six dollars had been made on the freight, which they thought 
to be satisfactory ; and that the arriero in Chihuahua (Vasquez) was 
the only responsible person in the matter. 

'' The anxiety which this communication caused me can more 
easily be imagined than expressed. I instantly suspected that the 
damage was much greater than insinuated by the letter. I knew of 
no torrents on the road from Puebla to Vera Cruz ; and although 
there was then question of an expedition against Texas, still in my 
eyes there was little likelihood that inules and mulateers, engaged 
in commercial services on the great commercial road between Mexi- 
co and Vera Cruz, should be seized there, and despatched to five 
hundred leagues distance for military purposes. The statement of 
the letter involved a mystery Santa Anna, who had enter- 
tained from 1826 to 1833 a delicate epistolary correspondence with 
me, laboring now under unpleasant apprehensions in consequence 
of his perfidy towards me, ought to try all means to snatch from the 
hands of his loathed and feared victim all those arms which, at 
whatever distance from him, might have detected his knavery. The 
concealment of the name of the friend was, on the other hand, not 

insignificant In fact, on my inspecting the trunks, my 

suspicions were found to be but too well grounded. Not two trunks 
alone, but six out of eight, had been broken open. The friend, 
having no guide to know in which of them papers could be found 
of an important nature, opened six of them, sparing only two, whose 
rough appearance with the exterior inscription, school and scientific 
books J was not tempting. He did not even limit his war to my pa- 
pers ; he wished to secure for his trouble a better reward than that 
which he could expect from his master ; and it was on the other 
hand a very easy task to plunder, with full impunity, the property 
of an absent and banished foreigner. He, therefore, commenced his 
noble performance by helping himself to eighteen hundred dollars in 
silver, a small but precious collection of minerals, another of Asiatic 
and European ancient moneys and medals I had brought from Eu- 
rope, and for which I had been offered six hundred dollars ; all 
my jewels and those of my wife, and our table silver ; the best part 
of our wearing apparel and house linen; a pair of rich saddle pis- 
tols from Versailles, an opera glass, two pairs of silver spurs, a 
Mexican bridle mounted in silver, a compass, three silver tumblers, 



121 

a pair of old gold epauietts, &c. He likewise abstracted a large 
segar box, on which were marked the words Mexican papers (con- 
taining exclusively my accounts relating to my literary institute and 
the ' Correo Atlantic©'), thinking perhaps to have thus conquered 
the golden-fleece. And then he achieved the work of destruction, 
by throwing water on every thing else he deemed unworthy of his 
rapacity; such as family papers, personal documents, a large quan- 
tity of manuscripts (many of which were ready for the press), choice 
books, an oil portrait, which cost one hundred dollars, and the re- 
mainder of the wearing apparel. The wetting was, however, so 
unskilfully executed that it left no room to doubt of the water having 
been purposely cast on those objects, and by no means of the trunks 
having fallen into a torrent ; for, in the same trunk, there were ob- 
jects untouched by the water, besides others entirely reduced to a 
mass of putrefaction. The totality of the money and objects stolen, 
amounting to about three thousand and three hundred dollars, was 
but a trifle, when compared with the destruction of important family 
and personal documents, and of manuscripts, the fruit of upwards of 
thirty years of hard literary labors, which formed the only hope for 
some resource in my deplorable situation, that of a sexagenarian and 
married European emigrant, 

'' The titles of some of the manuscripts most damaged, were : Pa- 
ralleles Politiques; La Liberta in Teoria e la Liberta in Pratica; 
Incompatibilita di una vera Democrazia con lo Spirito del Secolo ; 
Effetti funesti della Indissolubilita del Matrimonio ; Traduzione de' 
Tristi di Ovidio in Versi Sciolti ; Traduzione del 4o. e 5o. Libro dell' 
Eneide in Sestine Rimate; Progetto di un Codice Militare per le 
nazioni Libere ; A Pentaglot Grammar ; Imperfecciones de la Con- 
stitucion Espanola de 1812; II Diritto d' Intervenzione non sempre 
illegittimo; Les 48 Manceuvres de Cavalerie reduites a 24; Projet 
d' une Societe vraiment Savante ; Incontro di Napoleone con Co- 
lombo ne' Campi Elisj ; A course of Lectures on the Theoretical 
Principles of Commerce ; Buonaparte e non Bonaparte- Lezione 
Italiaua a' Francesi ; Lamentazioni Italiche ; Cagioni Filosofico-Po- 
litiche della Caduta di tutti i Governi; II mio e tuo Politico ; Beau- 
ties and Deformities of the United States of America; Montesquieu e 
Filangieririconciiiati; Orrori della Diplomazia Moderna; Necessi- 
ta ed Ordinamento delle Scuole Normali ; L' Educazione Pubblica 
e Privatane' Paesi Liberi; Campagnes des Fran^ais en 1796, 1798 
at 1800 en Italie, et non pas contre 1' Italic; L' Etat Major, tel qu' 
il devrait etre; II Vero ed il False Amor di Patria; Murat, Tra- 
gedia in Cinque Atti ; Notas Criticas a la Obra de Solis sobre la 
Conquisla de Mexico ; Examen Critico de la Obra de Zavala sobre 
las Revoluciones de Mexico ; Selva di Pensieri Economici, Morali, 
Politici e Religiosi, &c. 

" What I have had the honor of exposing to you, gentlemen, is 
not intended, believe me, to excite sympathy for my misfortunes. I 
think, on the contrary, that there is no worse social condition than 
16 



122 

that of a pitied man. My only scope is to make known on what 
basis rest the morals of the Mexican Government, in what an alarm- 
ing situation are our fellow-citizens there, and who is truly that ex- 
crement of Attila, by whom the brave and unfortunate Colonists of 
Texas are now threatened with destruction. 

" Your most humble servant, 

"O. DE A. Santangelo. ( 138) 

" New-Orleans, October 23d, 1835." 



OTHER CONSEQUENCES OF BOTH MY BANISH- 
MENTS FROM MEXICO. 

My readers will suppose, .perhaps, that having- now nothing else 
to lose, and being, on tha other hand, beyond the reach of the savage 
Mexican Government, the list of my claims on it was complete. 
They wiir imagine that I had now nothing else to do but to solicit 
the powerful, just, patriotic, energetic and benevolent interference of 
our own Government, to obtain the redress due to my suiferings. But 
we will see that my very efforts to obtain this redress have forced 
me to submit to new sacrifices, and are now calling the coup de 
grdce on my unhappy old age. 

First of November, 1835. — Owing solely to my own courage and 
activity, I obtained from the worthy lawyer Mr. Alonzo Murphy 
(at present a judge of the Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana) 
his house No. 90, Custom-house street, for fifteen hundred and sixty 
dollars per annum. I furnished it decently, placed my good consort 
at the head of a select academy of young ladies, and opened even- 
ing classes for gentlemen to study foreign languages, receiving at 
them gratis those who boarded in my family. My success was 
beyond my hopes. I remained in that situation until July, 1840, 
when, as another consequence of the Mexican favors, I was obliged 
to break up this third literary institute, and repair to Washington to 
have my claims on Mexico adjusted. But let us follow the course 
of events. 

January, 1836. — The ex- Vice President Farias, Gen. Mexia, 
Seiior Del Valle, and other notable Mexican Federahsts, had been 
obliged to take refuge in New-Orleans from the ferocious persecu- 
tions of Santa Anna. From them I learned, for the first time, who 
this man really was, and who he had been since his birth. I blushed 
at the idea of my having ever been his friend ; and, availing of the 
numerous and irrefragable documents in possession of which I was 
put by General Mexia, I commenced writing his life. But, as 
almost all the bloody and disgraceful events of Mexico since the 
achievement of her independence from Spain, were the offspring 
of his diabolical genius, and the true first causes of those events 



123 

could not, on the other hand, be understood, without those being traced 
up which had taken place in Spain since the famous transactions of 
Bayonne, my work became insensibly a history, which I hope will 
ere long be presented to the public, in two vol imes, under the title 
of " Historical Notes on the Revolutions of Mexico, from 1808 up 
to the present day." It is prepared in Spanish, and it only needs a 
good English translator. 

I had long and soundly debated, within myself, the question 
whether the treatment I had received from that personage author- 
ized me or not, before the tribunal of honor, my conscience, morals 
and public opinion, to publish his private correspondence with me. 
But, when I reflected that I had never contracted any secret engage- 
ment with him ; that he had never recommended any secrecy to 
me; that, on the contrary, the language of all his letters M'as con- 
stantly calculated to insinuate to all readers and to m^yself his 7wble 
and sincere devotion to his country; that, in fact, he had never been 
my friend ; that he had only abused of my bonhomie to make me a 
tool for his ambitious intrigues; that he had praised my "First Dis- 
cussion of the Congress of Panama," already published, and urged 
the publication of the others, only because he thought that my 
truths would ultimately open to him a way to overthrow the actual im- 
becile Mexican President (Victoria), and place himself in his stead; 
that all his nocturnal confabulations with me in Xalapa were only 
tending to selfish purposes; that he had never taken publich/ (he 
slightest interest in my cruel banishment of 1826; that he offered 
me an asylum at his farm, only when he had heard from me that I 
had refused a like offer made to me by General Guerrero: and when 
1 reflected upon his cool and silent indifference at the distressing 
loss I had sustained of my only son, in consequence of that banish- 
ment ; when 1 considered that not even the least trouble had he taken 
in my affair with Dick, but had himself defrauded me most villa- 
nously of the price of fifty copies of my " Congress of Panama ;" 
that not one single thankful word had I ever received from him 
about his first biography published by me in Spanish on the "Mer- 
curio," of New- York, by him so warmly desired, and my pamphlet 
against the Spanish " Redactor," of that city, and the multitude of 
communications made by me to various French, English and Ame- 
rican editors in his behalf, &c. ; that he had never broken his 
silence towards me, after my leaving Mexico in 1826, until informed 
that President Guerrero had, in 1829, authorized my return to that 
country ; that, deaf to my subsequent letters, he did not again break 
his silence until August, 1831, when the execution of Guerrero and 
the usurpation of Bustamante, had inspired him with hope and desire 
of becoming President, so foolishly expressed by him in his letter of 
the 1 1th of October, of the same year ; that all his posterior commu- 
nications had ihe same scope, determining me to break up my flour- 
ishing and profitable establishment in New- York to go and wait in 



124 

New-Orleans for his orders, and there exercise, in the mean time, 
my pen, advocating- in French periodicals, his rights to the presi- 
dency at the next elections; that, when triumphant against Busta- 
mante, and certain of the presidency, he neither wrote me a word, 
nor answered the letters written him by Zavala in my behalf; that 
on my landing in 1833, at Vera Cruz, when already elected Presi- 
dent, but conspiring now against the federal system, in order to 
become the Cromwell or the Napoleon of the country, without 
having the talents and virtues of either, he tried his best to prevent 
my advancing into the interior of the Republic, refused as long as he 
could my visits at his farm, treated me there afterwards shamefully, 
and pushed so far his impudent ingratitude as to deny the receipt of 
the numerous, long and elaborated publications I had just made on 
the ''Bee," of New-Orleans, in support of his cause; that in Mexico 
he would see me only twice, and even then only to exhibit me to his 
friends and the public, as the school master of one of his bastard sons ; 
that in punishment of my having refused to keep that son in my in- 
stitute under conditions incompatible with the rules of the estab- 
lishment, and of my having defended in my " Correo" the American 
and Texian honor against the infamous calumnies of mercenary 
editors, he not only destroyed at once my " Correo." my institute, my 
fortune, my peace, my liberty, my honor, and exposed me and my 
family to die, helpless and hopeless, on the pestilential coasts of the 
country, through the most dastardly and fell abuse of power, tramp- 
ling at once under foot the laws of the country, the law of nations, 
the solemn treaty existing between his country and mine, the laws of 
hospitality, honor and morality, but would also condemn me, by the 
basest of tricks, to eternal obscurity, humiliation and misery, out of 
Mexico, by destroying not merely the authentic vouchers of my re- 
spectability and his treachery which I had in my trunks, but even 
thefruitof thirty years of literary and honorable labors. . . , When 
I considered all this, and when it evidently appeared to me that no 
hostility on my part against him could now reasonably be construed 
into the effect of a private unnecessary vengeance, but solely as a 
legitimate and indispensable self-defence ; when I thought that his 
crimes were of such a nature as to render him unworthy even of the 
honor of receiving a corporeal punishment from the hands of a gen- 
tleman ; and when, again, I became fully convinced that it was, on 
the contrary, a crime for me to withhold from the sight of society 
that pestilential scourge of his own country, the dishonor of man- 
kind, and now the blood-thirsty assaulter, at the head of a powerful 
army, of a handful of pacific, virtuous and industrious American 
husbandmen, who had been perfidiously invited to fertilize and colo- 
nize a territory heretofore inhabited only by snakes and ferocious 
Indians, and consequently useless or even prejudicial to Mexico — 
then I concluded that I was, not only absolved from all duties, if 
ever I had any, towards that loathsome monster in human shape, 



125 

but I had a full right, and it was iTiy most sacred and imperious 
duty, to unmask it, by all means in my power, before all nations and 
all men. 

Moved by these considerations, I took the pen, and recommenced 
in New-Orleans, on the 29th of February, 1836, the publication of 
my " Correo Atlantico," which had been silenced in Mexico by the 
bayonet, and which I devoted now exclusively to the defence of 
Texas, and to the punishment of the President Salteador, who had 
actually invaded that unhappy Colony, threatening it with the most 
complete and unmerciful destruction ( * ). It was then alone, and not 
until then, that I took the offensive against him ; and certainly it 
was high time to do so, for he had already exhausted all his means 
to annihilate me, and consequently to free me from all regards, both 
to his person and his public character. Respect to public authority 
is commanded by heaven and earth; but let the man who exercises 
it tyrannically be cursed by earth and heaven. This digression 
was indispensable, to shelter my honor from the magistral strictures 
of those who speak much, think little, and know less. 

Fifteenth of November, 1836. — Negotiations were now going on 
in a fair way between the United States and Mexico for a proper 
adjustment of our claims. President Jackson was not insensible to 
national honor ; and from the very efforts made at the time by the 
Mexican cabinet to free itself from some charges, I had an indirect 
but decisive acknowledgment of the justice of my claim on its part. 
I beg the attention of my judges on this topic. The acting Minister 
of Foreign Affairs, Seiior Monasterio, at present chief clerk of the 
same department, in reply to a note of our Charge, Mr. Ellis, dated 
September 26th, 1836, containing various reclamations on the part 
of the, United States, affirmed, under date of November 15th, that " the 
protection given by article xiv of the treaty of the 5th April, 1831, 
to American citizens in Mexico, was limited to a resort to the tribu- 
nals of the country, whose access is rendered free to them, leaving 
the parties interested to carry on their own affairs, without the direct 

interposition of their respective Governments without making 

them matter of diplomatic discussion, so long as the parties interested 
are not denied those legal resources which are ofen to Mexicans .... 
as there could not exist Uoo different legislations for natives and 
foreigners ; and the latter, all they can claim in virtue of the treaty, 
is, that they may be judged by the same laws, and by the same tri- 
bunals as the former r ( 139 ) 

This is the language of the same honorable Secretary of 
State, who, in June of the preceding year, authorized with his 
signature the lettre de cachet, by which I was ordered to quit the 
city of Mexico within three days, despoiled of my property, exposed 
to perish with my family of the epidemic then raging in Vera Cruz, 
and definitively obliged to embark for foreign parts, without being 
permitted any access to the tribunals of the country, any of the legal 
resources common to the native, <^c.,nor even being apprised of any 



126 

reasons at all for such a cruel, iniquitous and proditory assault. 
Seiior Monasterio was then willing to prove to the world that the 
handsome diction, Secretary of State, does not always mean 
wisdom, talent, justice, honor or common sense. At all events I. 
owe him rny thanks for having, in the above quoted instance, so elo- 
quently advocated my cause. 

Twenty- fowrth of March, 1837. — About this time I read in a 
newspaper a note addressed by our Secretary of State, Mr. Forsyth, 
to our Charge in Mexico, Mr. Ellis, containing some instructions and 
a list of claims, amongst which mine was not mentioyied. I then 
addressed to Mr. Poinsett, who had been just appointed Minister of 
War, a letter dated New-Orleans, March 24th, in which, after my 
congratulations upon said appointment, I said : 

" You will remember my having been banished from Mexico in 
1826, when you were Minister there, in consequence of my having 
defended the interests of the United States, in my pamphlet on the 
Panama affair; which banishment caused me the irreparable loss of 
my only son. Several entreaties and promises of indemnification. 
from a great number of Mexicans of the highest character, such as 
Guerrero, Santa Anna, Zavala, Esteva, &c., to have me there as 
founder of a National Lyceum, induced me to return ; and then I 
suffered another turn of aggression and spoliation, in open violation 
of the article xiv of the treaty existing between Mexico and the 
United States ; and, thus deprived of all possibility of having my for- 
mer claim answered. I was, while a citizen of the United States, 
banished again in June, 1835, by order of Santa Anna, for having 
asked from other editors of the country, in my ' Correo Atlantico,' 
some proofs about the atrocious calumnies they were daily vomiting 
against the Texians in particular, and the citizens and Government 
of the United States in general, and also for having been frequently 
visited by Colonel Austin, in Mexico. I protested against the pro- 
ceedings to no purpose, and suffered to the amount of one hundred 
thousand dollars. There being then no Minister at Mexico, I ap- 
plied to the Consul, Mr. Parrott, who promised to represent my affair 
to the State Department. But I find that he has not kept his pro- 
mise, since my name has not appeared amongst those comprised in 
the letter of Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Ellis, as having a right to an in- 
demnification from Mexico. Will you please to inform me of the 
customary mode of presenting claims, and suggest how I shall act 
as regards my own, in whose support I have documents of the best 
authority," &c. ( 140 ) 

This letter was transmitted by Mr. Poinsett to the Department of 
State, and thence it came to the Board of Commissioners under the 
Convention with Mexico. 

NoTA. — The judges of my claims will remark that Mr. Poinsett, 
by transmitting the letter just transcribed here to the Department of 
State, without any observation on his part, implicitly acknowledged 
the truth of these words: "You will remember my having been 



127 

banished from Mexico, in 1826, when you were Minister there, in 
consequence of my having defended the interests of the United Slates, 
in my pamphlet on the Panama affair," &c. This circumstance ought 
to impress all American hearts. 

Twenty-ninth of April, 1837. — The same uneasiness which had 
induced me to write to Mr. Poinsett, prompted me now to address a 
letter, under date of April 29th, to the Secretary of State, Mr. John 
Forsyth, giving him a synoptical idea of my misfortunes in Mexico, 
and requesting his attention on my claims. ( 141 ) This letter was 
published afterwards with some important notes ( 142), and I sent 
him two printed copies of it, with the No. 35 of my '' Correo At- 
lantico" (of New-Orleans), in which several important documents 
relating to my claim were transcribed ; and although all these com- 
munications remained politely unanswered (for the devise of high 
republican functionaries must be : De minimis non curat PrcRtor), yet 
they were preserved in the State Department, transmitted afterwards 
to the Mexico- American Board, and are now filed amongst my do- 
cuments. ( 143 ) It would be useless to detail the contents of said 
letter, it being but an epitome of Avhat has already been exposed in 
this statement. I would only anticipate here that I have made some 
important amendme7its to it, on which I shall have hereafter the 
honor of calhng the attention of the judge. 

Second of February^ 1839. — A Convention for the adjustment of 
American claims on Mexico had been concluded at Washington, on 
the 10th of September, 1838; but it was not ratified by the Mexican 
Government, under the pretext that the_consentof the King of Prussia 
to provide an arbitrator to act in the case provided by said Conven- 
tion, " could not be obtained." In the mean time the news of the 
proposed /orei^?i arbitration alarmed the claimants; and those who 
were present in New-Orleans assembled, in the last days of January, 
and signed a memorial to Congress, with a solemn protest against 
all foreign arbitration. ( * ) I was present at this meeting, but did 
not sign, and solicited, on the contrary, its adjournment until the 2d 
of February, when I proposed to give my opinion on the matter. 
In fact, at this second meeting, I delivered an address, containing a 
statement of ail the proofs of friendship and generosity given by the 
United States to Mexico since her first attempts to shake the Spanish 
yoke ; of all the proofs of her ingratitude and enmity to the United 
States ; and of all the negotiations which had until that period taken 
place between the two Governments, for the redress due by her to 
our nation and citizens. I then discussed successively these questions : 

"1st. Is a foreign arbitration just or convenient? Or both? Or 
neither?" 

" 2d. Would war be just or convenient ? Or both? Or neither ?" 

" But why engage," said I, " in a discussion already solved by Con-' 
gress, and perhaps agreed to by both the contending Governments? 
Supposing in private citizens the right of opposing a measure which 
attacks their right of property, have they the force to frustrate it? 



128 

And even in the supposition of their having this/ore^, would it be 
patriotic for them to disturb the public peace for their individual in- 
terests? What will, then, Congress reply to a petition tending to 
have that measure revoked, if already ratified by both Governments? 
A round and powerful NO; and what can be, therefore, the object of 
my present address to you, gentlemen % This is it : 

" 1st. That in case of the agreement in favor of a foreign arbi- 
tration not being yet ratified, by both Mexico and Washington, the 
matter be reconsidered by Congress, and our respectful observations 
be properly appreciated. 

" 2dly. That in case of the irrevocability of the measure, and con- 
sequently of our necessity to submit patiently to it, our Govern- 
ment be, with equal respect, prompted to put it into execution without 
further delay, and adopt all possible means to cause the Prussian 
delegate to be properly instructed of the true state of things, and at 
the same time to prevent him from being influenced by Mexican 
intrigue. 

" 3dly. Finally, to remove, if possible, many erroneous opinions 
prevailing among a large portion of the nation about the law of 
nations in similar contests in general, and the conduct, either too 
moderate or too hostile, of our Government towards Mexico in par- 
ticular. Supposing now the case in question being not yet resolved, 
I will endeavor to demonstrate : 

" 1st. That foreign arbitration is both unjust and inconvenient. 

" 2dly. That war, if truly no hopes for adjustment exist, would be 
at once just, convenient, indispensabUy ( * ) 

My demonstration followed; it was found unanswerable; the meeting 
unanimously voted me their thanks, and the publication of one thou- 
sand copies of my speech in pamphlet form, at their expense; a copy 
to be sent to each member of Congress, the Governors of the several 
States, and all individuals interested, &c. ( * ) All this was done ; 
and I must be permitted to relate here what the local press said about 
that arbitration. 

From the Louisiana Advertiser^ of 9th February, 1839. 

'' To refer for arbitration our claims to a foreign po- 
tentate almost totally ignorant of our relative position and character, 
was at least bad policy, and not consonant with what is termed in- 
ternational laiv, or the example of nations. Disputes concerning 
boundaries or insults may properly be so referred ; but there is pro- 
bably not one precedent existing in any age or country, where indi- 
vidual claims asserted by a Government, were ever made the subject 
of arbitration by a foreign potentate. It is the positive duty of that 
Government itself to redress the wrongs of its citizens, without any 
intervention or advice. England never sought such an arbiter. 
France would disdain such a reference ; and even our own Govern- 
ment has hitherto per se always enforced the indemnification of the 
claims of its citizens against all the European powers; and yet now 



129 

it makes a miserable and ungracious and ungenerous exception in 
favor of Mexico. Tliis is magnanimity with a vengeance ! parti- 
cularly when we consider that the Mexican Congress had previously 
decreed that the accounts formerly presented by our Secretary of 
State, were not of such a nature as to demand payment or reparation. 
Yet with this fact before the world, an arbitration is adopted, the 
result of which may never arrive ; and if it did, the enforcement of 
what may be attended with worse than double the disasters and en- 
counters with one neighboring Republic than a present resolute de- 
mand which it is intended, should not be gainsaid or avoided. This 
latter subject is placed in an excellent position by that learned jurist 
O. de A. Santangelo, whose address to a late public meeting held in 
this city, and now printed in pamphlet form, contains a comprehen- 
sive view of it in all its ramifications, and forms a complete epitome 
of international law on all the topics discussed." ( * ) 

From the New- Orleans Bee, of the 21si{ February, 1839. 

"United States and Mexico. — We have examined with some 
attention a petition addressed by a number of the citizens of New- 
Orleans to the two houses of Congress, together with a pamphlet 
containing the speech of O. de A. Santangelo, Esq., on the subject 
of the claims of citizens of the United States against Mexico, for 
spoliations committed on American commerce, and the persons and 
property of citizens of the United States residing in Mexico, con- 
formably to the treaty of amity, navigation and commerce of the two 
nations. 

''The petitioners complain of the delays which have procrastinated 
the settlement of those claims, and protest against the policy and 
justice of referring them to the arbitration of a third power. They 
recommend speedy and effectual measures on the part of the Go- 
vernment to coerce Mexico into reparation of the injuries and losses 
which they have sustained at her hands. 

" The speech of Mr. Santangelo gives a succinct history of the 
Spoliations and outrages which have given rise to these claims, and 
contrasts the generous, humane and conciliatory policy of the United 
States towards Mexico, with the perfidious and barbarous conduct 
of that people towards citizens of this country. 

" It also contains an analysis of such proceedings as have taken 
place between the two Governments, concerning the injuries com- 
plained of, and presents the conduct of France in enforcing the rights 
of her citizens at the point of the bayonet, and the temporizing un- 
satisfactory policy of the United States, in a striking point of con- 
trast. 

'' In fact the negotiations between this country and Mexico con- 
cerning these claims, are any thing hut flatterijig to our national 
pride. While it is admitted that the Mexicans have outraged every 
principle of international law, and violated every sentiment of hu- 
manity, by perpetrating acts of wanton injustice on the persons and 
17 



130 

property of American citizens, in defiance of treaties, stipulations 
and the repeated remonstrances of the Government, we are humili- 
ated by the confession that this forbearance is becoming a fowerful 
people. The internal discord which prevails throughout Mexico, 
is no stable reason why our claims should not be pushed to final 
adjustment. If they are to be postponed until this turbulent and 
discontented people become tranquil and free from revolutionary 
disturbances, the chances are that the claimants will have to wait 
for the settlement of their accounts until doomsday. The lapse of 
years brings with it no improvement in the moral condition of the 
Mexicans, or in the stability and strength of their Government. 
Time seems only to infuriate and stultify still further the first, and to 
increase the arrogance and the impracticability of the second. The 
ignorance, overweening presumption and pride of Mexico render 
her deaf to the demands of justice, and induces her to construe the 
lenity of our Government, and its unwillingness to resort to coercive 
measures, into national pusillanimity and weakness. Insensible to 
the impulses of magnanimity, her rulers are unable to conceive its 
operations in others. 

" These claims have been repeatedly brought before Congress, 
and in the session of 1837, both branches concurred in the passage 
of some spirited resolutions, which promised more energy in the 
enforcement of the rights of our citizens. But the subject has again 
fallen into oblivion, and redress seems to be as dista^it as ever. And 
during this apathy, the property of citizens of the United States is 
exposed to the rapacity of the Mexicans, who are stimulated in their 
aggressions bj'' the impunity with which they have been heretofore 
committed. 

" When it is recollected that the United States have ever pursued 
towards Mexico the most liberal and friendly policy, and that during 
her struggle for independence, it was owing principally to the inte- 
rest with which that struggle was regarded by our Government, 
and its determination to make common cause vvdth Mexico, should 
the European powers interfere in the contest between the Colonies 
and Old Spain, that independence was achieved, the conduct of the 
Mexican Government must appear particularly odious, ungrateful, 
and indefensible, and we can conceive of no reason why their in- 
tolerable blustering and arrogance should be longer endured. 

'' In Mr. Santangeio's speech the whole subject is reviewed in a 
calm, searching, and philosophical manner. The folly of allowing 
a false sympathy for the calamities of a people who are insensible 
to the impulses of gratitude, and who require to be taught that they 
are not the most powerful nation on earth, to interfere in exacting 
justice from them, is happily pointed out, and the expediency of 
adopting immediate hostile measures against them, argued with 
much force and clearness." ( * ) 

Notwithstanding all these and many other publications from the 
cla,imants and from the press, both in English and in French, and 



131 

the remittance of the abovementioned pamphlet to Washington and 
elsewhere, as resolved by the meeting of the 2d February, 1839, no 
change was observed in the policy adopted by the Van Buren cabi- 
net. Still the Convention with Mexico was at that period not yet 
ratified, nor even concluded. It had been necessary to remodel it 
(as stated in its preamble) '• in a manner more convenient to Mexico 
than that provided by the Convention of 1838!" .... And then it 
was co7iclucled on the 11th of April, 1839, that is, sixty-eight days 
after the delivery of my address, adopted by the meeting as their 
own, and it was not ratified and published in Washington until the 
8th of April, 1840, that is, about fourteen months after the address ! 
'The mot d'ordre from the so called kitchen-cabinet was, '■'' Paix 
a tout prix^^ and national honor, and the individual interests of hun- 
dreds of our fellow-citizens, and the clamors of universal justice, to 
which not even the most savage tribes are deaf, every thing was 
inexorably and basely immolated to the selfish views of one man, 
through a convention with Mexico, which I have proved to the 
executive, legislative, judiciary, and people of the United States, as 
well as to the world, in a printed representation to the President, Mr. 
Tyler, dated July 12th, 1841, and remaining up to this day una?iswer- 
ed, to be: ''anti-national, anti-constitutional, and absurd 

IN ALL ITS PROVISIONS." ( * ) 

Twenty-second of September, 1840. — The claimants were then 
compelled to submit, right or wrong, to the law of necessity. The 
Convention having established in Washington a Mexico- American 
board to adjust their claims, or refer to a Prussian umpire such 
cases or points on which its Mexican aad American members could 
not agree, I was obliged to break up my third literary institute 
(another consequence of Mexican persecutions), sustaining an addi- 
tional loss of a yearly profit of from five to six thousand dollars, and 
of upwards of two thousand dollars on the price of my furniture sold 
at auction in July, 1840, the whole of which is evinced by unexcep- 
tionable testimony ( 144 ), and reached with my family this city on 
the 22d of September of the past year, only to endure new losses, 
new expenses, new despotic treatments from Mexicans ! ! ! 



FURTHER EVIDENCE PROCURED. 

Fifteenth of December^ 1840.— Under this date I addressed to Mr. 
Poinsett, Minister of War, the following note; 

" Sir : Being one of the claimants against Mexico before the Board 
of Commissioners under the Convention concluded on the 1 1th of 
April, 1839, between that Government and ours, I find myself under 
the necessity of addressing to you the following respectful request. 

" My claims result from two illegal and unjust banishments from 
Mexico; the first in July, 1826, the second in June, 1835. 



132 

"As to the latter, 1 apprehend no reasonable objections, being 
since 1829, a naturalized American citizen, and consequently fully- 
entitled to the protection of the United States, for the redress of the 
wrongs inflicted on me in 1835. 

"But, as to the former banishment in 1826, I am now told that no 
attention is to be paid to it, as, at that period, / loas not yet an Ame- 
rican citizen; and it is extremely important for me to refute this 
error. 

'' In 1826 I was not yet an American citizen : true ; that is, I had. 
not yet been invested with the political rights of a naturalized 
American citizen. But my civil rights were doubtlessly under the 
protection of the United States, since May, 1824, when I declared 
before the marine court of New- York, my intention of becoming a 
citizen, and swore my formal renunciation to all foreign allegiance. 
From that moment I lost every claim to foreign protection, and 
consequently my civil rights were placed, de jure and de facto^ 
under the safeguard of the country where I had established for ever 
my legal domicil. I say legal domicil, because no perso7ial un- 
interrupted residence, in other words, no forced personal relegation 
within the boundaries of the Union, could be exacted by law, as a 
condition sine qua nan of the solicited citizenship. To renounce 
freedom in order to become free would be evidently an absurdity. 

'' In 1825, that is, one year after having made in New- York the 
above sworn declaration, I was obliged to accompany to Mexico an 
only son (the companion of my emigration from Europe), who had 
been offered there a profitable employment in an Anglo-Mexican 
mining company. During my temporary permanence in the Mexi- 
can capital, I published there a work on the ' Congress of Pana- 
ma,' then in contemplation, thirty-seven pages of lohich were conse- 
crated to advocate the right of the United States to be represented in 
that Congress as a member of the great American family, and to be 
treated in all respects by Mexico on the same footing as all the 
new States of the Americas formerly Spanish ; supporting at the 
same time the justice arid common utility to both Americas of the 
principles opposed by yo\b to certain extravagant pretensions of the 
Mexican Government in the treaty of amity .^ navigation and com- 
m,erce, which you tvere then negotiating tvith it^ in your capacity 
of Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States. For this crime a 
lettre de cachet was suddenly handed to me, on the 1st of July, 1826, 
ordering my expulsion from the Mexican States. In vain had the 
competent tribunal, the jury of the press, unanimously absolved my 
book. In vain did the council of the Government declare the uncon- 
stitutionality of the order of my banishment, and the responsibility 
of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sebastian Camacho, who had 
signed it. The Mexican Executive, trampling upon both the judicial 
and legislative powers, directed that my banishment should, right or 
wrong, be carried into effect. Nor did my allegation of my civil 
rights being under the protection of the United States, in virtue of 



133 

the sworn declaration and renunciation I had made two years before 
(1824) in New- York, prove of any avail. It was verbally answered 
by the Governor of the Federal District, Seiior Molinos Del Campo, 
who had personally handed to me my passport, that, ' in virtue of a 
prior agreement between the Mexican Government and the Ameri- 
can legation, no account ought to be taken of the interference of 
the United States in my case.' 

" The alleged agreement was derived from the article 13th of 
the regulations respecting ' all foreigners arriving at Mexico or de- 
parting therefrom,' published by the Executive of Mexico, on the 
5th of the preceding month of June, and conceived thus : ' To pre- 
vent in future the frauds which have been or might be committed 
by some foreigners, who, supposing themselves to be citizens of the 
tJnited States, have exhibited, as a certificate of citizenship, the cer- 
tificate of the oath made by them in said States, their legation 
AGREES not to expedite any certificate for passports, without the 
most satisfactory evidence of their holding the citizenship of the 
same States,' &c. 

" Being unacquainted with the true terms and the true object of 
the alleged agreement between the Mexican Executive and the 
American legation, which at that period was worthily represented 
by yourself, as Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States in 
Mexico, I take the liberty, sir, to have recourse to your kindness 
for a suitable explanation, which is indispensable to me for the sup- 
port of my claim upon the Mexican Government, before the Board 
of Commissioners abovementioned. 

''Although it does not clearly appear from the article above 
quoted, that you had adopted the principle that 'the foreigner who 
had declared before a court of the United States his intention to be- 
come a citizen, and made a sworn renu7iciation to the allegiance of 
all other powers on earth, had no right of having his civil rights 
protected in Mexico by the commercial or diplomatic agents of the 
United States,' yet this might be properly or improperly inferred 
from your having agreed, as the article says, with the Mexican Go- 
vernment ' not to deliver any certificate for passports to foreigners 
without the most satisfactory evidence of their holding the citizen- 
ship of the United States.' 

'' If this be the case, it would be obviously observed that neither 
the Executive of a country, nor the legation of another, could law- 
fully destroy such individual civil rights as, in circumstances like 
this, are unequivocally acknowledged by the law of nations, and 
practically respected by all civilized nations. But, if this be not the 
case, and I suppose it is not, deign, sir, to make me acquainted with 
your views on this subject, in order that I may ground my claim on 
a solid basis, and you will greatly oblige, your most humble servant, 

" O. DE A. Santangelo. 

"Washington City, December I5th, 1840." ( 145 ) 



134 

x\ns\ver. 

"Washington, December I7t/t, 1840. 

"Sir: I have tlie honor to aciaiowledge the receipt of your let- 
ter of the 15th instant. The long period which has elapsed and my 
separation from my papers, oblige me to refer you to the Depart- 
ment of State for the explanation of any transaction connected with 
my negotiations while minister of the United States at Mexico. As 
the letter you have addressed to me, mai/ be of service to t/ou, it is 
herewith returned. 

'' I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 

" J. R. Poinsett. 
" Mr. O. de A. Santangelo, Washington City." ( 146 ) 

In fact, I believe that my letter to Mr. Poinsett, returned to me 
without explanations nor observations on his part, may be, and is 
most assuredly '■' of service to we." 

" 1st. It proves the truth of my statement about the reason of my 
banishment of 1826 from Mexico; that of having advocated there 
the interests of the United States, and the official conduct of their 
minister Mr. Poinsett. 

" 2dly. It demonstrates the injustice of the refusal of the Ameri- 
can protection in Mexico to foreigners bearers of the certificate of the 
oath taken by them in the United States, as required by law, to 
obtain, at the expira-tion of the term prefixed by it, American citi- 
zenship. 

'' 3dly. It evinces the fact of the non-existence of any lawful 
treaty between the United States and Mexico, from which the Exe- 
cutive of Mexico and the legation of the United States might have 
derived a right to deprive the bearers of such certificates of all pro- 
tection to their civil rights. 

'' 4thly. And that should Mexico not be responsible for the in- 
juries caused to me in 1826, on account of the agreement of the 
legation of the United States to her lawless pretensions, the respon- 
sibility would naturally, obviously and most rightly fall on the Go- 
vernment of the United States itself" 

Thirty-first of December^ 1840. — The answer of Mr. Poinsett 
suggested to me the propriety of addressing to the Secretary of State, 
Mr. Forsyth.^ the following petition: 

" O. de A. Santangelo, a citizen of the United States, and a claimant 

on Mexico, under the Convention of the 1 1th of April, 1839, most 

respectfully represents: 

" That with a letter to your Department, dated 29th of April, 
1837, he transmitted a printed copy of his j^ro^es^ before the Consul 
of the United States at Mexico, on the subject of his banishment 
from that country in 1835. 

" As to the protest, the petitioner having made it in great haste, 
and at a moment in which a banishment as unmerited as unexpect- 



135 

ed, of which he foresaw the most distressing consequences, had 
strongly agitated his mind, several omissions or mistaken statements 
were contained in it, in regard to the damages therein mentioned, 
tohich will be corrected in the general statement of the case to be 
presented by your petitioner to the Board of Commissioners esta- 
blished under said treaty, when the rules and regulations of its pro- 
ceedings shall have been made public. 

"And as to the letter, in making in it an allusion to his first ban- 
ishment of July, 1826, from said country, your petitioner had can- 
didly, but erroneously, supposed that he, having at that period only 
made before the marine court of New- York the declaration of his 
intention of becoming a citizen of the United States, no protection 
from their agents was due to him in Mexico. This supposition had 
obviously sprung from the circumstance of a regulation having ap- 
peared in that city, in the preceding month of June, the article 13th 
of which was so conceived : ' To prevent in future the frauds virhich 
have been or might be committed by some foreigners, who, suppo- 
sing themselves to be citizens of the United States, have exhibited as 
a certificate of citizenship, the certificate of the oath taken by them 
in said States, their legation agrees not to expedite any certificate for 
passports without the most satisfactory evidence of their holding the 
citizenship of the same States,' &c. 

'' Your petitioner, persuaded that no legation or executive power 
could have, motu proprio, destroyed or curtailed individual rights, 
proclaimed by the laws of nations, and respected by all Govern- 
ments, had accordingly inferred from the tenor of said article, that 
some special and formal treaty had been stipulated between the 
two nations, by which it was agreed, right or wrong, that a for- 
eigner, bearer only of the certificate of the oath made by him in the 
United States, had no right to the protection of their agents in 
Mexico. 

" But the non-existence of such treaty being now ascertained, 
the petitioner begs to represent that the very fact of his having 
declared in May, 1 824, that is, two years before the event of his first 
banishment from Mexico before the marine <:ourt of New- York, his 
intention to become a citizen of the United States, after the number 
of years required by law, had, de facto and de jure, placed his civil 
rights under the immediate and exclusive protection of the United 
States, at home and abroad, although no political rights could he 
acquire but from the future act of his becoming a citizen ; for, as the 
abovementioned declaration included implicitly that of his perpetual 
domicil in these States, and was accompanied by his sworn renun- 
ciation to all foreign allegiance.^ especially to that of the sovereign 
of his native country, he had necessarily and evidently lost all right 
to foreign protection., and not even a passport would he have ob- 
tained from any foreign commercial or diplomatic agent in the 
United States, or Mexico. 

" Your petitioner, reserving the right of legally developing in 



136 

proper time this argument before the aforesaid board, deems it only 
to be necessary at present to declare, and respectfully protest, that 
his mistaken supposition, contained in his letter of the 29th of April, 
1837, must be regarded as utifounded and mill, and consequently by 
no means prejudicial to any of his rights as consecrated by the law 
of nations, the constitution and laws of the United States, the general 
practice of all enlightened Governments, and reason itself 

''And praying you to direct that this respectful petition and pro- 
test be filed amongst the other documents existing either in the State 
Department, or in the secretary of said board, concerning his claims, 
has the honor of subscribing him.self, your most humble and obe- 
dient servant, O. de A. Santangelo, 

"Washington, D. C, December 2,\st, 1840." ( 147) 

This petition and protest was not answered by the always ex- 
tremely polite Secretary of State, Mr. Forsyth, but it was sent at least 
(although not until the loth of February of the new year, 1841) to 
the Board of Commissioners, and thence to me, to be filed in the 
chronological series of my numerous documents. 

NoTA. — The question whether I had, or not, in 1826, a right to 
the protection of the United States in Mexico, is in my opinion quite 
idle, or even foreign to the case: 

1st. Because the place of birth or the citizenship of a creditor 
does not exempt the debtor from paying him his due, and much less 
can it free an unjust assaulter, be he an individual or a moral body, 
from the obligation of indemnifying his victim according to the laws 
of the country, the law of nations, or both. Si aliquem Iceseris, 
damnum resarci; this is the text of universal jurisprudence. 

2dly. Because my action to recover damages, due since 1826, by 
the Mexican Government on account of an arbitrary, unconstitutional 
and criminal offence to me, is, by its own nature, not subject to any 
legal prescription, nor was it ever renounced or otherwise legally 
lost by me. 

3dly. Because that action was warranted to me by an express 
provision of the constitution then in vigor since 1824, in the coun- 
try (and not abolished until the 30th December, 1835) ; which pro- 
vision threw the responsibility of all unconstitutional acts of the 
Executive on the minister who legalized them with his signature; 
and certainly the responsibility of a minister towards a foreigner is 
the responsibility of the Government itself 

4thly. Because the Mexican Government, by expelling me in 
1835, illegally, unjustly, and in defiance both of the constitution of 
the country and of a public treaty, whilst I was an American citizen, 
forcibly prevented me from asking the redress due to me by it since 
1826, in virtue of the laws of its own country; ex quo efficitur that 
it assumed, of its own accord, the responsibility for the atonement of 
all damages caused to me at both periods, by both banishments. 

5thly. And because^ by my having reckoned, in my protest of the 



137 

3d of July, 1835, amongst the damages caused to me by the illegal 
and unjust expulsion of that period, the fact of having been forcibly 
prevented from asking in Mexico the redress due to me for the inju- 
ries I had experienced from my banishment of 1826, my action for 
the indemnification of the damages which have been the conse- 
quences of both banishments, being one. and indivisible, now 
unquestionably comes under the same Convention of the 1 Ith April, 
1839, and consequently under the consideration of the same judge. 
Nevertheless, should it be necessary to demonstrate that, even on 
the occasion of my first banishment of 1826, from Mexico, I had a 
right to the protection of the United States, if not as a citizen or an 
aspirant to the citizenship of the United States, at least as a for- 
eigner who had fixed his perpetual domicil in these States, and 
had lost all rights to foreign protection, in consequence of an oath 
required by the law^s of the country, I am ready to do so, the law of 
nations in hand, observed in this respect by all nations on earth 
worthy of the name of nations. Hence, as neither the Mexican 
Executive, nor the American legation had the lawful power of 
destroying that right, the consequence would be that the intrinsic 
nullity of their agreement in the Mexican regulation of the 5th of 
June, 1826, could neither exempt Mexico from acknowledgiag the 
legality of that right, nor the Government of the United States from 
the obligation of supporting it, unless by assuming itself the respon- 
sibility of the Mexican debt in the case. 

Eleventh of January, 1841. — Among human possibilities there 
could be that of the Mexican Government alleging now its igno- 
rance of my quality of citizen of the United States, even on the 
occasion of my banishment of 1835, in order to escape the conse- 
quences of the violation of the treaty of the 5th April, 1831 

But, in this case, it would be easily convicted of falsehood, for my 
said quality was made known to it : 

1st. In my passport, delivered by the State Department of Wash- 
ington, countersigned by the Mexican consuls of New- York and 
New-Orleans, Senores Treat and Pizarro-Martinez, presented to 
the local authorities of Vera Cruz, on my arrival there on the 24th 
of March, 1833, and left in Mexico with the charge of the United 
States there, Colonel Butler, in exchange of the " carta de seguri- 
dad'^ {letters of protection), procured by him in my favor from the 
Mexican Government. 

2dly. In my petition to it, dated Vera Cruz, 29th of March, 
1833, and published in the "Censor" of that city, on the following 
day, 30th. 

3dly. In my prospectus of the Lyceum Azteque, published in 
Mexico, and presented to that Government, on the 1st of June, 1833. 

4thly. In my petition to the Governor of the District, General 
Martinez, of the 7th of September, 1833, wherein I asked the per- 
mission of opening in my house a course of political economy and 
languages. 
18 



138 

5th. In my periodical, the "El Correo Atlantico:" to which the 
Mexican Government was a subscriber for twelve copies. 

6th. In my letter to President Santa Anna, of the 25th of June, 
1835, a copy of which was sent at the time by the consul, Mr. Par- 
rott, to the State Department, and is now filed in my documents. 

7th. In my petition of the same date, of June 25th, to the Minister 
of Foreign Affairs, likewise forwarded by said consul to said de- 
partment, and now" in my possession. 

8th. In the dialogue between me and Governor Rayon, of the same 
day. 

9th. In the dialogue between Mrs. Santangelo and President 
Santa Anna, of the 26th, &c. 

But, to have an exuberant evidence of the fact, I wrote, on the 
1 1th of January last, to Mr. Parrott, a note, asking " whether on my 
having entered on the 3d July, 1835, in his consulate in Mexico, a 
protest against the banishment from that country inflicted on me in 
the preceding month of June, in contravention of the treaty of 1831, 
he had sent a copy of it to the Mexican Government, as he did to 
the State Department in Washington" ( 148 ); to which I received 
the following answer : 

" Washington, Jamiary Wth, 1841. 
" O. DE A. Santangelo, Washington: 

'' Dear Sir : In reply to your note of this date, I beg leave to 
state, that I transmitted to the Department of State, at this city, an 
authenticated copy of your protest, entered as an American citi- 
zen, before me as consul of the United States of America, in July, 
1835, against an order of the Government of Mexico for your 
banishment from the Republic ; that your name is registered on the 
records of the consulate of the United States of America at Mexico, 
as a citizen of the United States ; and that, from certificates from 
Colonel A. Butler, our then charge d' affaires at Mexico, or myself 
as consul at the time, you received as such from the Mexican Go- 
vernment your letters of protection, or 'cartas de seguridad.' 
'' Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"W. S. Parrott." ( 149) 
Thirtieth of January, 1841. — Besides the proof resulting from 
the letter of Messrs. Manning, Marshall and Co., dated Vera Cruz, 
the 18th August, 1835, and from my proximo conquestu of the 
plunder of my trunks on the road between Puebla and Vera Cruz, 
and the destruction of my precious manuscripts, my only hopes if 
not for fame, at least for pecuniary resources ; and on account of 
the death, occurred since that period, of Messrs. G. MacLaughlin 
and P. Leonard, who were present when I received those trunks in 
New-Orleans, and found six of them broken open, &c., I wrote, in 
the beginning of January last, to G. Schmidt, a respectable lawyer 
and member of the council of the city of New-Orleans, requesting 
him conscientiously to certify what he knew about that occurrence ; 
to which he replied by sending me the following affidavit: 



139 

"State of Louisiana, City of Neio-Orlcans, to wit, iSpc. : 

" I do hereby certify, that when, in October, 1835, Mr. O. de A- 
Santangelo received from Vera Cruz, through Messrs. Hermann & 
Co. of this city, eight large trunks, he found si.c of them broken 
open, which Mr. and Mrs. Santangelo affirmed were stripped of 
every thing valuable in money, jewels, wearing apparel, &c., to the 
amount of three or four thousand dollars. / sato in the house of 
Mr. and Mrs. Santangelo of this city a large quantity of books and 
manuscripts contained in said trunks, which were wet and injured 
so as to be illegible, and were of no value; and / exainined said 
books and manuscripts with attention, but was unable to decipher 
them. Mr. Santangelo was more grieved at this loss than at any 
other, because the manuscripts were, as he informed me, the fruit of 
thirty years literary labor, a fact of which I had an opportunity of 
esibnating the correctness, by examining not only the quantity, but 
the events to which thej/ referred, so far as practicable from the 
mutilated condition of said manuscripts. Mr. Santangelo also com- 
plained of the total absence of a box marked " Mexican papers," and 
which he informed me contained valuable documents collected by 
him during a residence of many years in the Mexican Republic, and 
the loss of which he ascrihod to the Mexican Government, as no one 
else could have had any interest in purloining the same. Mr. San- 
tangelo, from these causes, was much excited, and had prepared a 
publication on the subject, which I dissuaded him from publishing, 
urging him at the same to apply to our Government for redress. 

'' G. Schmidt." 

'' Sworn and subscribed to, before me, this 30th day of January, 
1841. O. P. Jackson, Judge:' 

[Here follows the legalization of the Governor of the State of 
Louisiana, dated 1st February, 1841.] ( 150 ) 

Nota. — The judge of my claims will remark that almost all the 
numerous original documents which are quoted in this statement of 
facts, have been more or less injured by the pretended torrent, and 
a great many are almost illegible ; so that it has been necessary to 
copy all of them in a good hand-writing to facilitate their perusal. 

Eleventh of February, 1841. — The silence of the hon,orable Se- 
cretary of State, Mr. Forsyth (that as well bred gentleman as learned 
statesman, adroit diplomatist, and energetic defender of the honor of 
his country in his high-minded negotiations with foreign powers), 
on my very humble petition and protest of the 31st of December, 
1840, prompted me now to renew that protest before the notary 
public of this city, Samuel D. King, Esq., on the 11th February, 
of this year, 1841; in which, after having presented an abridged 
statement of my grievances resulting from my two banishments from 
Mexico, and of their ruinous effects; and after having quoted, 1st, the 
omissions or mistaken statements contained in the protest I entered 
on the 3d of July, 1835, in the American consulate in Mexico, con- 



140 

cerning the aniovrnt of damages therein mentioned: 2dly, the error 
I had made in my printed letter to Mr. Forsyth of the 29th of April, 
1837, by believing myself not entitled to the protection of the United 
States against my banishment of 1826; I concluded: 

" For these reasons the appearer doth hereby declare and solemn- 
ly protest^ that he intends, and is prepared to prove his full and 
lawful right to the protection of the United States' Government 
to obtain a proper redress from that of Mexico, not merely for his 
banishment from that country in 1835, and its consequences, when, 
he was a naturalized citizen of the United States since 1829, in the 
enjoyment of the political and constitutional rights of an American 
citizen; but also for his first banishment in 1826, at which period he 
had established, since the month of May, 1824, his perpetual domi- 
cil in the United States, declared his intention of becoming a citi- 
zen, and sworn his renunciation to all fidelity and allegiance to 
foreign powers, and especially to that of his native country ; for 
which his civil rights had been unquestionably and exclusively 
placed, dejure and de facto, under the protection of the United States' 
Government and laws, both at home and abroad; and he doth like- 
wise declare and protest, in the same lawful and solemn manner, 
that he intends, and is prepared to correct the aforesaid protest, and 
prove that the true amount of his claims against the Mexican Go- 
vernment doth far exceed the sum stated in said protest, notwith- 
standing the statements contained in it on the subject. 

"O. DE A. Santangelo. 
"Samuel D. King, ) p^-^^,,,,,,, 
"Samuel Hanson, ^ 

[Here follows the legalization of the notary public, under his hand 
and official seal]. ( 151 ) 

Twenty-fifth of September, 1841. — In addition to the proofs I 
have already exhibited in this statement of facts, pages 87 to 89, 
under the dates of April 22d, and May 7th, 21st, and 31st, 1835, of 
the importance of the "El Correo Atlantico," which I was editing in 
Mexico, when, in June of said year, I was so barbarously and law- 
lessly banished from that country, as well as of the immense profit 
which I could reasonably expect from that periodical publication, I 
have thought proper to request under date of the 22d of September 
last, the frank and conscientious opinion on the subject, of one of the 
subscribers to that paper at that period, now present in Washing- 
ton, the late consul of the United States there, Mr. William S. Par- 
rott ( 152 ); and I have now the honor to submit here his answer 
to the judges of the case : 

"Washington, September 25th, 1841. 
" O. DE A. Santangelo : 

" Dear Sir : In answer to your note of the 22d inst., requesting 
my frank and unbiased opinion, as to what was the public opinion 
in regard to your polyglot, literary and commercial " Correo Atlan- 
tico," published by you in the city of Mexico, in 1835, the extent 



141 

of its circulation, the price of subscription, the profit you might have 
expected in a short time, had you been permitted to continue its cir- 
culation, and the loss you sustained in consequence of your banish- 
ment — the object of these inquiries being the support of your claims 
against the Mexican Government ; with the frankness which has 
characterized my actions through life, I will proceed to answer you, 
although with extreme reluctance, from the fact of being myself a 
claimant on Mexico, and from a knowledge of the fact also that the 
Mexican Commissioners have objected to the testimony of claimants, 
given in the adjudication of disinterested claims before the Board. 

I was myself a subscriber to your " Correo Atiantico," during the 
.time it was published in the city of Mexico; the price of subscription 
for the city was one dollar seventy-five cents per month, (twenty- 
one dollars per annum) ; and I can truly say it was by far the 
largest a^id best conducted fafer 'printed at the time in Mexico, 
or in the Mexican Republic, and also that public opinion, with re- 
gard to it, was in perfect accordance with my own ; its circula- 
tion in the city of Mexico was general, but of its circulation through 
the country I have not the least idea. I possess no positive infor- 
mation in relation to what your profits would have been, had you 
succeeded in this enterprise; but I know that the high subscription 
paid for papers in Mexico, and the extent of circulation of well con- 
ducted papers, have hitherto been a source of wealth to their pro- 
prietors, and that such ivould have been the result of yours, had 
you been permitted to continue, I have not the least doubt. 

i' I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"William S. Parrott." ( 153) 

To complete this statement of facts, I have to make a par- 
ticular mention of two other documents intimately connected with it, 
and of which I never had any notice until their late transmission to 
me by the Mexico- American board sitting in this city. 

Twenty-second of April, 1841. — On my having withdrawn from 
the Secretary of the board the documents existing there relating to 
my case, in order to file them chronologically with others I was in 
possession of, I found a paper conceived literally as follows: 
" Extract of a letter from W. S. Parrott, Consul of the United States 

of America, under date, Mexico, July 14th, 1 835, to the Hon. John 

Forsyth, Secretary of State, 

'' Sir : Referring to my letter of the 12th instant, with sundry en- 
closures, I now hand you under cover, copy of O. de A, Santangelo's 
first letter to me (advising of the order he had received to quit the 
country, in the form of a protest) which was not entered upon record, 
with a certified copy by three persons upon oath fixing the damages 
caused to him, at not less than one hundred thousand dollars ; a 
copy of his letter to me under date of the 6th instant, and my answer, 
which, I am told, displeased him so much that he assured his friends 
he would have me removed in less tha7i six months. I took a lively 



142 

interest in his behalf, called in person upon General Santa Anna 
and the acting Secretary of State at the time, to exercise my Injiu- 
e7i.ce with them to obtain an extension of time, which was all that 
he solicited. Having accepted his passport to leave the country, as 
will be seen by copies of his letters to General Santa Anna and the 
Secretary of State, even before I was ajjprised of ichat was going 
on, and although no written order was given allowing hira to re- 
main the fifteen days, General Santa Anna assured, me that he 
would not be molested, and he remained until the 10th instant. His 
wife left here on the 13th, (yesterday)." ( 154 ) 

A iew remarks. 

The letter of the 12th of July, with sundry enclosures, as spoken 
of in the above extract, is unknown to me. I never meditated any 
removal or remotion of Mr. Parrott. . I never knew of his having 
taken a lively interest in my behalf m Mexico. I had solicited not 
merely an exte7ision of time, but I requested Mr. Parrott to ''cause 
the Mexican Government to respect the treaty of the 5th April, 
1831, and to ascertain through his official intervention both the mo- 
tives of my expulsion, and the reasons by which that Government 
intended to justify the violation of the treaty." ( 126 ) I wrote to 
Santa Anna, and to the then acting Secretary of State after (and 
not before) having perso?ially informed Mr. Parrott, at his office, 
of what ivas going on (see my statement p. 99). I submitted to 
the expulsion, because I had not under my command a couple 
of French regiments to put in good order that country : be- 
cause I knew that the measure taken by my true friend was 
irrevocable; because Governor Rayon told me positively that the 
'' only means to obtain a delay Avas not to speak of American 
citizenship, treaties, or other exceptions indicating resistance or re- 
sentment, p. 98.; and because Mr. Parrott himself had declared 
to me verbally at his office, before my writing to Santa Anna and to 
the Secretary of State, that he had no intercourse with the State De- 
partment except in commercial business ; that there was no Ameri- 
can charge or minister in Mexico ; and that I had nothing better 
to do than to submit, and expose afterwards my grievances to our 
Government, p. 99 ; which principles he manifested again in his 
posterior letter of the 6th July, p. 112. Nor did I ever know from 
Mr. Parrott or others, that I was indebted for the delay, which I 
obtained, to his influence. I thought, on the contrary, to have ob- 
tained it through the exertions of my wife and Mr. Leggett (see the 
letter of this gentleman, p. 114). The fact is, that the memory of 
men of business is not always faithful, and that Mr. Parrott, first 
feeling unable or unwilling to quarrel with the Mexican Govern- 
ment on my account, and then apprehending a resentment on my 
part, represented the case to Mr. Forsyth in the aspect more conve- 
nient to his embarrassing position Imperfections of human 

nature ! 

Tenth of August, 1841. — The other document, until now the 



143 

last, touching the merits of the case, and of which I had not the 
slightest idea before the 10th of August of this year, when an 
authenticated copy of it was granted to me by the Mexican mem- 
bers of the board, is the order of my second banishment from Mexi- 
co, whose literal translation into English is the following; 

'' The conduct observed, and the opinions manifested by the foreign- 
er O. de A. Santangelo in the writings he published in this capital in 
the year 1826, obliged the Government to expel him from the Re- 
public. Owing to the interposition of his Excellency the General- 
President, Don Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, this individual was 
suffered to return to it ; but having occupied himself again in the 
editing of a periodical, in which some productions appear which 
tend to ridicule the nation and plunge it into anarchy, the Supreme 
Government would become responsible of the evils which might 
result from the permanence of this individual among us; and to 
avoid it, I have been directed by the most excellent President pro 
tempore, to transmit you the corresponding passport, ihaX Santangelo 
may quit the capital within the third day, with direction to Vera 
Cruz, at which port he shall embark for foreign parts. 

" His Excellency hopes that you, in what may concern you, shall 
take care that this order be most punctually executed, in the intelli- 
gence that, if loithin the indicated term Santangelo shall not have 
undertaken his march, you will require from the General com- 
mandancy the necessary force to have him escorted to the port, 
for which I transmit this communication to his Excellency the Se- 
cretary of the Department of War. 
'' God and Liberty. 

"Jose Maria Ortiz IIonasterio. 
" To the Governor of the District. 
''June, 2Uh, 1835." 

" This copy, from its original, is expedited for the archives of the 
Board. Luca de palacios y Magaroa. 

''Washington, May lOth, 1841." 

"Compared and collated: Washington, May lOih, 1841. 

"Alexander Dimitry." ( 155 ) 

Who was the author of this order ? Certainly not the acting Pre- 
sident, in whose name the acting Secretary of State had signed it. 
That pitiful passive tool of the military despot there present had 
neither the power of doing, by himself, any good or bad public act, 
nor the least interest in gratuitously aiming at me that lawless, 
ferocious and foolish blow, nor even would he have dared to mention 
in the order the name of the most excellent General President Santa 
Anna, without his express consent or injunction. The author of the 
order was, therefore, Santa Anna himself, cowardly entrenched be- 
hind the breeches of Barragan; he alone could do it; he had long 
premeditated it ; and now I summon him alone to account for it 
before my own tribunal. Here is my decree. 



144 

'• Whereas the most excellent Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the 
President of the Republic of Mexico, the Geneval-in-chiefofthe Mexi- 
can armies, the bencmeriio de la patria^ the universally notorious, 
and the basest of all forgers and swindlers; the traitor to Spain, to 
Iturbide, to the Mexican federation, to all systems of Government 
and all political parties of his country ; the shameless rebel to all his 
moral and social duties: the wanton and brutal butcher of Zacatecas, 
Tampico, Alamo and Copano ; the contemptible weeping and trem- 
bling female when in the Texian jails ; the ungrateful, dastardly and 
ruthless assassin of his ancient companion and friend, the brave and 
illustrious patriot General Jose Antonio Mexia, &c., the hero who, 
at the head of four thousand five hundred men, trying to run from 
the sight of a handful of French seamen, had a leg shot off by them ; 
the intrigant who is now bribing the ignorant Mexican soldiery to 
be placed again at the head of the Mexican nation, &c., &c., &c. — 
has now issued, under the date of the 24th of June, 1835, motv, pro- 
pria, and without any known or plausible reason, an order of banish- 
ment from the Mexican territory against me, an innocent, inoffensive, 
useful, aged, and honorable citizen of the United States of America: 

" Whereas this order of banishment was coaetive, and conse- 
quently attempting to rtxy individual liberty ; inflicted by way of 
punishment, and consequently destructive o( my personal honor; for 
' banishment,' says Vattel, is like expulsion with a mark of infamy 
(B. 1, ch, xix, §. 228) ; causing a derangement of my business, and 
expenses, losses, sacrifices, &c. ; thus injuring my property; and 
obliging me to go and embark, with my young wife, and a young 
female servant, at a port where a pestilence was actually raging 
with the utmost fury, thus exposing three innocent lives at once to 
evident danger: 

" Whereas the order embraces at once the accusation, the process, 
an unappealable sentence and the execution, the whole being the per- 
formance of a single man, called President, and a sample of despo- 
tism unheard of and unknown, even under the most absolute and 
tyrannical Governments on earth : 

"Whereas, in his order of banishment of the 24th of June, 1835, 
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna quotes my former banishment of 
the 1st July, 1826, evidently with a view of aggravating my case 
through the allegation of a relapse, or a solitus delinquere, the 
trivial resource of those who produce unfounded or "^larne, 'accusa- 
tions: 

" Whereas, in point of legality, said order of banishment was given 
by Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna in open and criminal defiance — 

" 1st. Of the constitution of the country, in its provisions relating 
to the liberty of the press, the independence of the judicial power, 
the restrictions of the Executive power, and the responsibility of the 
Minister, who signs unconstitutional acts of the Executive. 

"2dly. Of the article xiv of the treaty of the 5th of April, 1831|j 
between Mexico and the United States. 



145 

" 3dly. Of the law of nations, whose observance is the only ther- 
mometer of civilization, and of the laws of hospitality, respected 
even by savages : 

" Whereas, m point of justice, the only writings I ever published 
in Mexico, in 1826, consisted of a small work on the Congress of 
Panama ( 156 ), relating to both Americas in general, and the inno- 
cence and the propriety of the 'conduct observed,' and of the 'prin- 
ciples manifested in it,' by me, were not only judicially acknowledged 
by the jury of the press (the only competent judge in the case), by 
the legislative council of Government, and by the whole Mexican 
nation, as interesting her gratitude, but even by Santa Anna him- 
self, who encouraged and praised its publication, through letters of 
his own hand, and sold fifty copies of it to his friends (retaining 
however the money for his trouble), and continued caressing me 
during many years until, appointed President, he no longer wanted 
my exertions in his behalf; which banishment of 1826 was after- 
wards declared barbarous^ and annulled by President Guerrero, that 
is, by the Mexican Executive itself, and invalidated by President 
Pedraza : 

■*" Whereas, under the same aspect of justice, the only periodical 
edited by me, in 1835, the 'Correo Atlantico' (157), far from ridi- 
culing the nation, or plunging it into anarchy, as slanderously as- 
serted by Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna in his order of banishment, 
defended the cause of public morality, and refuted some private 
calumnies against the Texians, and the Government of the United 
States, said to be their instigator, in order to possess itself with that 
section of the Mexican country; and this I did with the honest view 
of preventing a rupture between the two Governments, without ever 
entering- into any political discussion, or indulging in any criticisms 
of the persons or doings of the Mexican authorities : 

" Whereas the fact alleged in the order in question, of ' my having 
been suffered to return to Mexico' after my first banishment, ' owing 
to the interposition of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna,' is a solemn 
and impudent falsehood, he having tried his best to prevent it, as I 
have already demonstrated usque ad nauseam in this statement of 
facts : 

"For these considerations, for the present, I, Orazio de Attellis 
Santangelo, do publicly declare, londly pronounce, firmly assert, 
conscientiously swear, and irrevocably decree ; 

" 1st. That Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna is a liar, a coward, 
a scoundrel, an imposter, a traitor, a disgrace to mankind. 

" 2dly. That should the Mexican nation ever place him again, or 
suffer him to place himself again, at her head, she ought and must 
be deemed to be, from the oldest to the youngest, from the richest to 
the poorest, from the strongest to the weakest of her citizens, nothing 
but a pitiful gang of stupid, ignorant, demoralized, debased fools. 

'' Sdly. That all Governments in the world, which may be so 
unprincipled as to engage at any time, in the least intercourse with. 

19 



1<16 

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anno, as the chief, under whatever title, 0/ 
the Mexican nation^ should be looked upon as entirely destitute of 
honor, and worthy only of the execration of their subjects, and of 
the contempt of all reasonable beings. 

" 4thly. That this my sovereign and irrevocable decree shall be 
translated into French, the universal language of diplomacy, and 
circulated as far as possible, all over the globe. 

" Done and giveji under my hand and seal, in the city of Wash- 
ington, District of Columbia, in the United States of America, this 
twenty-second day of October, the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and forty-one, and the first day of the sixty-eighth 
year of my age. 

"Orazio de Attellis Santangelo." ( * ) 



CONCLUSION. 

An act of accusation on my part will close this statement of 

FACTS. 

I have suffered at the hands of the Mexican Governments of 
1826 and 1S35, the following wrongs: 

Four expensive and useless voyages from the United States to 
and from the city of Mexico, with my family, servants, &c. The 
breaking up of three noble, large, renowned and flourishing literary 
institutes, none of which has ever produced less than six thousand 
dollars per annum. Two illegal, unjust and fell expulsions, a sort 
of punishment producing infamy. Defamation by the epithets of 
vagrant, sluggard, chevalier d'industrie, &c., in a "Gaceta," not 
merely official, but the exclusive organ and the property of the 
Mexican Government itself, paid for by the nation. The loss of 
the actual salary of my son, amounting to three thousand dollars 
per annum. The destruction of the life of this my only son, the 
only hope and support of my old age, and a youth of the highest 
expectations in society. The destruction of the largest and best con- 
ducted periodical in the Mexican Union, which in a few months 
would infallibly have produced one hundred thousand dollars 
per annum. Wanton and cruel exposure of my life and that of my 
wife, servant, &c., to the deleterious epidemic of Vera Cruz, not- 
withstanding my begging leave to go and embark at Matamoras, 

at my own expense Attempts on my individual liberty, by 

being placed under military escorts. Plunder of my luggage and 
money, and destruction of manuscripts, the honorable and profitable 
fruit of thirty years of the most painful and laborious lucubrations. 
Forced removal from NeAv-Orleans to the city of Washington, to 
have my claims adjusted .... but, in reality, to endure new infa- 
mous treatments, and the legal sanction, perhaps, of all the wrongs 
I had heretofore endured by the so called Mexican Government. 



147 

Upwards of one year residence in Washington, amidst all sorts of 
wants, disregards and troubles. Heavy expenses of publications, 
translations, copies, notorial acts, postages, &c. In one word: Six- 
teen years of a precarious, obscure and excruciating existence^ dis- 
tressing efforts to have justice done, and, U7itil now, illusory hopes. 
NoTA. — Should, besides the one hundred and fifty-seven documents 
quoted in the exposed statement of facts, others be deemed ne- 
cessary in corroboration of any important fact or circumstance, or 
in support of some of the items comprised in the statement of 
DAMAGES to be presented to the judge of the case, I beg to be in- 
formed of it, in order to complete, as far as possible, my defensive 

P^^'^^-^^- Santangelo. 



PROCEEDINGS. 

After twenty-five years of the most execrable, crying and con- 
stantly unpunished outrages and injuries inflicted by the Mexican 
citizens, authorities or Supreme Government itself, on the citizens. 
Government and nation of the United States, a Convention between 
the two Governments was at last concluded, on the 1 1th of April, 
1839, and ratified on the 8th of April, 1840. 

This Convention, without taking the least notice of the public 
ofTences heaped by Mexico on the American honor, had merely in 
view the adjustment of the private claims of American citizens ; and 
putting the offended and the offender on the same level, created a 
board of two American and two Mexican Commissioners, with 
their respective clerks or secretaries, both acquainted with the 
Spanish and English languages, to decide conclusively on all said 
claims, or refer them to a foreign arbiter in case of their differring in 
opinion. Whether this difTerence could be established by a parity, 
or even a majority of votes, this extremely important point was left 
also unnoticed. 

The four commissioners, whom the Convention obliged to meet 
in Washington, on the 8th of July, 1840, did not meet until the 17th 
of August, on account of the retard in the arrival of the Mexicans ; 
and from the moment of their first sitting, the Mexicans and the Ameri- 
cans placed themselves in a very different position towards each other. 
The former had come here as mere charges under secret instruc- 
tions, to defend right or wrong the interests of their Government, 
versus our own directly, and by no means the claimants, whom they 
had been ordered not to consider as parties before them. The lat- 
ter, on the contrary, regarded themselves as mere impartial judges 
between the American claimants, or plaintiffs, and the Mexican Go- 
vernment, or defendant, under the sole and public guidance of the 
Convention. 

The Congress of the United States, however, through an act of 



148 

the 12th of June, 1840, entitled "An act to effect a Convention be- 
tween the United States and the Mexican Republic," had furnished 
the American Commissioners with some other seasonable instruc- 
tions. It enjoined on them to decide on the claims conformably 
with the principles of justice and equity, and the law of nations. It 
empowered them to make, in conjunction ivith the Mexicans, all 
needful rules and regulations, not contravening the Constitution of 
the United States, the provisions of this act, and those of the Con- 
vention. It acknowledged a direct correspondence between them 
and the claimants, by providing that "all communications to and 
from their Secretary, shall pass by mail free of postage," &c. 

This act, not affecting in the least the Mexicans, who acknowledged 
here of no masters but their own, was of no avail to prevent a dis- 
cord which the imperfect letter of the Convention had already excited 
between the Commissioners of the two countries, who both mistook 
the true object of their respective missions, from the very moment 
of their entering upon their duties. The following picture of the 
fact is from a report made by the American Commissioners, Messrs. 
W. L. Marcy and John Rowan, to the President of the United 
States, John Tyler, dated May 26th, 1841, saying, in substance: 

That on the 17th of August, of 1840, the Commissioners of both 
nations assembled, and presented their respective commissions, and 
certificates of the oath taken : 

That the Mexicans presented a certificate that they had taken 
their oath before each other, and their Secretary before them: 

That the board, on entering upon the business of establishing "a 
set of rules" to be observed in conducting the cases coming before 
it, a '' serious difference of opinions arose :" 

That the Mexicans held that the two Governments were the liti- 
gant parties before the board, and denied to the claimants all access 
to it, in person or by their agents, and even the right to present or 
transmit directly to it any paper, document or written proof: 

That the Americans considered these views of their colleagues to 
be erroneous, and they believed that the adoption of them would be 
very prejudicial, if not entirely destructive, to the interests of the 
complainants : 

That the discussion lasted until the 7th of October, under their 
apprehension that the object of the two Governments in instituting 
the commission would not be effected: 

That, during the discussion, the claimants Wra. S. Parrott and 
John Baldwin, had petitioned the board, asking requisitions on the 
Mexican Government for documents, pursuant to the article 4th of 
the Convention ; which petition was admitted by the Americans, and 
rejected by the Mexicans, and '' consequently lost :" 

That, in consequence of the perti7iacious opinion of the Mexicans, 
that the United States and not the claimants were the party prose- 
cuting the claims, and of the j'?r«icowmc^io?i of the Americans of the 
claimants being the real parties in interest, they could not, consist- 



149 

ently with their sense of duty, give their sanction to any arrange- 
ment or rules which did not permit the claimants to have access to 
the board, and directly to manage their cases; and ''all their pro- 
positions were rejected by an equal division of votes :" 

That five rules only Avere adopted; the 1st and the 2d concern- 
ing the days and the hours of their meetings; the 3d, the seats to be 
occupied by the members of the board; the 4th allowing every 
member to ask that the votes be taken upon any question ; the 5th 
enjoining the Secretaries to form an alphabetical index of the claims, 
&c. : 

That no rules had been made furnishing directions to the claim- 
ants as to the manner of preparing their cases, and of bringing them 
before the board : 

That all further efforts to establish more necessary rules being 
given over, the board took a recess on the 9th of October to meet 
again when the Secretaries had the papers prepared : 

That the board met again on the 21st of December: 

That on the succeeding day the agents of Arnold's claim having 
asked permission to appear and present it to the board, the Ame- 
rican Commissioners voted for, the Mexican against, and the re- 
quest was lost : 

That the Mexicans proposed that " whatever written explanations, 
documents or petitions the claimants or their agents should desire 
to present, would be received and considered, coming through the 
Department of State:" 

That the Americans voted in favor of this resolution, because it 
did not deny a more direct mode of access ; and at the same time 
they did not doubt that the claimants were entitled to appear before 
the board and communicate directly with it: 

That, as all the efforts of the Americans to procure for the claim.- 
ants the exercise of their just rights had been unavailing^ and to 

INSIST UPON THEIR BEING ASSENTED TO BY THEIR COLLEAGUES, 
WOULD HAVE RENDERED THE CONVENTION ENTIRELY ABORTIVE, 

they CONSENTED to proceed in the business: 

That the resolution above referred to did not pass until nearly 
six months after the time fixed by the Convention for the assembling 
of the board, and all direct commu7iication vnth it was denied to 
the claima?its by the Mexicans: 

That until the 23d of December no indication had been given to 
the claimants, as to the manner in which the cases were to be pre- 
sented ; and, on that day, it was resolved, on motion of the Mexicans, 
approved by the Americans, that all papers to be presented to the 
board through the State Department, should be hereafter sent in 
both the Spanish and English languages: 

That not until the 28th of December, 1 840, was the first case 
brought before the board : 

That the Americans ascribed this great delay in entering upon 
business to the conflicting views between them and the Mexicans, 



150 

as to the powers and duties of the board, and particularly to the 
position maintained by the Mexicans, that ''the claimants were not 
parties, and had no right to appear in person or by agents, or to 
send any communication whatever to the board." ( * ) 

This' report, addressed by the American Commissioners to the 
President of the United States, on the 26th of May, 1841, was for- 
warded by them to the Secretary of State, with a letter, in which 
they said : 

" Being in some doubt as to the direction to give it, we have ad- 
dressed it to the President, but put it into your possession to be dis- 
posed of as ;i/ot^ shall judge proper.^^ .... My language would 
have been this : "We, the American Commissioners, formally soli- 
cit from the Executive proper and speedy measures to prevent the 
Mexican Government from trampling, through its agents here, on 
our Convention with it, or to accept our resignation." 

The Secretary of State, who like all other ministers, is not a pub- 
lic autliority elected by the people, but a constitutional functionary 
elected by the President only to serve as an organ through which 
certain affairs are submitted to the consideration of the President, 
and through which the orders of the President are made known to 
the public, or to the interested ])art']es, judged it proper to keep the 
report of the American Commissioners in his desk. On the 2d of 
July, the Senate called on the Executive for information about the 
progress and the actual condition of the board; and the Secretary 
of State sent on the 8th to the President, not a report on the actual 
•condition of the board, but the abovementioned report, dated nearly 
two months before, stating that this was the c»?iZ?/ information in pos- 
session of his department on the subject. On the 9th, the President 
sent it to the Senate. On the 1 0th, the Senate ordered it to be printed, 
and referred it to its Committee of Foreign Affairs, composed of 
Messrs. W. C. Rives, chairman, W. C. Preston, J. Buchanan, 
N. P. TaI/Lmadge, and Rufus Choate. The report died then 
a natural death. 

Ignorant of all these transactions, I had already experienced my- 
self the effects of the disorder reigning in the board, so eloquently 
described by Messrs. Marcy and Rowan, who were pleased, how^ 
ever, to submit with a truly edifying tameness to all the caprices of 
their Mexican colleagues, so highly condemned by them. But they 
would not cause ''the Convention to be entirely abortive,^' .... 
and to prevent the abortion of the Convention, they permitted it to 
be entirely violated by the Mexicans; and, by joining the latter in 
their honest and lav)ful performances, they became knowingly, 
avowedly and deliberately the passive instruments of the ruin of 
those very claimants in whose behalf they had been appointed 
members of the board, with a salary of three thousand dollars per 
annum. 

On the 16th of January of this year, 1841, I sent to the Secretary 
of State, Mr. Forsyth, a list of seven documents, which I had from 



151 

the Convention a right of demanding from the Mexican Govern- 
ment. These seven documents were : 

" 1st. A copy of the Mexican regulation about foreigners, issued 
by the Executive of Mexico, on the 5th of June, 1826. 

*' 2dly. A copy of the order of my banishment from Mexico, on 
the 1st July, 1826, signed by the Secretary of State, Camacho. 

'' 3dly. Copies of the ' Gaceta del Gobierno,' of the 1st and 4th of 
July, 1826, containing outrages, calumnies and scurrilities of the 
basest nature. 

" 4thly. A copy of the verdict of the jury of the press, of the 6th of 
July, 1826, absolving unaiiimously my 'Congress of Panama,' the 
only pretext of that banishment. 

''5ihly. A copy of the verdict of said jury, of the 10th of July, 
subjecting to prosecution the infamous editors of the ' Gaceta del 
Gobierno.' 

''6thly. A copy of the decree of the legislative 'council of the 
Government,' of the last days of July, declaring my banishment to 
be unconstitutional, and the minister who had signed the order, 
Camacho, to be responsible for it, 

'' 7th. A copy of the order of my banishment of the 24th of June, 
1835, signed by the then acting Secretary of Stale, Monasterio." 

Mr. Forsyth sent this list (although not until the 28th of January) 
to the board. Had this board the right of rejecting a demand 
expressly granted by a public treaty ? Well ; it made this demand, 
in its sitting of the Sd of February, a subject of discussion, the re- 
sult of which was, that the demand for the 1st document (it being 
merely a Mexican regulation) was unanimously admitted; that for 
the 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th and 6th was wholly rejected by the Mexicans, 
wholly admitted by the American Commissioner Mr. Rowan, and 
partly admitted and partly rejected by the other American Commis- 
sioner Mr. Marcy. As to the demand for the 7th document, it was 
justly deemed unnecessary, the same being already before the board ; 
namely, the original order of my banishment of 1835. 

All rejection was evidently, in this case, not merely a criminal 
impudent violation of the Convention, but a true and most dastardly 
assassination. What right, what interest, what reason could a judge, 
a prince, a nation, a divinity have wantonly to deprive a citizen, a 
human being whatever, of the right of furnishing himself with such 
laiofwl vouchers as he thinks necessary for the support of an action 
which he proposes to introduce before a tribunal? The board was 
the sole vehicle left open to me by the Convention to obtain those 
vouchers from Mexico. The Convention, by obliging Mexico to fur- 
nish them, had implicitly authorized me to demand them. How could, 
therefore, that board reject my demand, thus most cruelly depriving 
me of all means, of all hopes to obtain them, forcibly snatchino- from 
ray hands the necessary proofs of my claims, thus despotically 
pronouncing the loss of my action before its being commenced? 



152 

Such a transaction, which would cover with infamy even the most 
savage tribes on earth, has been however not only permitted in 
Washington, but even tacitly approved, and even protected by the 
stubborn, haughty and consenting silence of our rulers to all hum- 
ble remonstrances ! I feel far more ashamed of such a state 

of things amongst us, as a citizen of the country, than sorry for the 
wrongs I have personally experienced from it. 

I had sent to the board through the State Department, to be filed 
amongst my documents, an instrument of protest entered by me, on 
the 1 1th of February last, before a notary public of this city, on 
matters vitally affecting my claims. This protest, although the 
claims were not yet presented, and consequently the board had 
not yet the slightest right to interfere in my own business, became 
also a subject of discussion before it, on the 15th of February, 
and it was not received and filed in my documents, but after a para- 
graph of it having been impertinently striken out, and most inimi- 
cally and falsely pronounced to be irrelevant, indelicate, and offeiu- 
sive to the sacred Mexican Majesty. In other circumstances, this 
Majesty v^'ould have paid dear for such a villanous, insolent and 
stupid affront. 

I had received on the 10th of May last, a copy of the order of my 
banishment of 1835, and I had found quoted in it my first banish- 
ment of 1826, evidently as a proof of relapse on my part, tending to 
aggravate my conduct in Mexico, and thus to lessen the injustice of 
my second banishment. This discovery rendered more and more 
necessary to me the documents I had requested from Mexico, which 
ought to disperse all injurious caviling about my first banishment 
from Mexico, in 1826. I renewed, then, the request, and sent, at 
the same time, to the board the whole of the writings spoken of in 
the slanderous order of banishment of 1835, namely, my "Congress 
of Panama" of 1826, and the entire collection of my " Correo Atlan- 
tico" of 1835; praying the board to peruse their contents rigorously, 
point out to me the sins I had committed in them, and thus enable 
me to refute all imputations before my case being submitted to its 
action, for afterwards no other defence was allowed to me by its 
wise rules. What was the result of this prayer ? My second request 
was most despotically rejected like the first, by two Mexican nays 
against two American ayes; and, as to the publications transmitted, 
1 received a polite leave to withdraw them, &c. ( * ) 

Six months of evangelic forbearance, and of respectful, but vain 
efforts to bring those petty Mexican despotillos to reason, were now 
elapsed; when, after an accurate examination of the policy adopted 
and pertinaciously followed by them towards all claimants, person- 
ally inimical to me, and generally subversive of all principles of 
justice, equity, and honor, of our constitutional and common laws, 
of our Convention with Mexico, of the law of nations, and of uni- 
versal jurisprudence, I addressed on the 12th of July last, to the 



153 

President of the United States, an exposition, with twenty-three ac- 
companying documents, in which, after mentioning the tyrannical 
treatment of which I was the target, I said : 

" The board in question is the monstrous offspring of a Conven- 
tion, which is itself the offspring of the most disgraceful transaction 
ever recorded, either in the annals of diplomacy or human aberra- 
tions." 

As to the Convention, I demonstrated that it was the result of cer- 
tain ambitious views of the late Administration, and, in itself, anti- 
national, anti- constitutional, absurd in all its provisions, and con- 
sequently a perfect nullity. 

As to the board, I first gave a general idea of it, by saying: " This 
board was said with propriety, on its first formation, to be a headless 
body, extending one hand towards the north, and the other towards the 
south, and moving one foot to the east, and the other to the west ; 
but, on its beginning its operations, it was seen metamorphosed into 
a body, the half of which was full of vigor, and the other, blind 
deaf, paralized, as from an apoplectic fit;" and then I proved that 
the Mexican Commissioners had also openly A'iolated the Conven- 
tion notwithstanding its intrinsic nullity; and I preferred, there- 
fore, against them the following charges, others reserved : 

"1st. They have betrayed the confidence of the Government of 
the United States, and of the American citizens having claims on 
Mexico, by assuming the judiciary character of members of the 
Board of Commissioners under the Convention of the 1 1th of April 
1839, being in reality but the attorneys of the Mexican Govern- 
ment, under its secret instructions. All their acts, as members of 
the board, are consequently, and have hitherto been, void and null' 
nor does a board exist as contemplated by the Convention. 

" 2dly. They have not even been lawfully sworn according to 
the Convention, as members of the board, their oath not havino- been 
received by a third competent functionary — as, for instance, the um- 
pire himself would have been — but reciprocally by themselves from 
each other; they being both attorney's to one of the parties in judcr- 
ment, the defendant, or Government of Mexico, cannot have taken, 
as judges, the oath o( impartiality required by the article 1st of the 
Convention, but only an oath as one party, unknown to the other 
party. 

" 3d. In the supposition of their having taken an oath of impar- 
tiality, as true and lawful members of the board, they would have 
become evidently guilty of perjury, by acting as attorneys to the de- 
fendant, in open violation of both their oath and the Convention. 

" 4th. They have given the example of a moral judicial body, 
following or making no rules or regulations in their proceedings, 
to be at liberty to violate, without any restraint, the principles of 
justice, on which they were bound by the Convention to ground their 
official acts. 
5th. " They have refused, without any lawful authorization, or rea- 
20 



154 

sonable motive, to hear the plaintiffs or claimants before them, either 
personally or through attorneys or counsel, and even to receive 
directly from them any petition, document, or communication what- 
ever. 

" 6th. They have wantonly rejected requests of the most impor- 
tant and decisive nature, regularly made by the plaintifT, and granted 
by the Convention. 

" 7th, They have refused to manifest the motives of such rejec- 
tions, to avoid all refutation or reconvention, thus trampling on the 
most sacred principles of justice. 

'' 8th. They have violated the sanctity of a public notorial instru- 
ment, by striking out despotically, curia sedente, a part of it, with- 
out any just reason, concerning the self-defence of a claimant, in a 
case which was not yet laid before them. 

" 9th. They have, in one of their secret reports to the umpire, 
attacked the personal character of a respectable American citizen, 
for want of better reasons to object his claim, thus acting as libellers. 

" 1 0th. They have decreed sending back to the decision of the 
Mexican tribunals some claims which were expressly embraced in 
the Convention, thus destroying the very fundamental object of this 
public and solemn stipulation. 

" 1 llh. They refuse to acquaint the plaintiff or claimant with ail 
the charges or exceptions produced by the defendant or the Mexican 
Government, in order to prevent the former from refuting the same 
in support of his own action. 

" 12th. They conceal from the claimants the interlocutory sen- 
tences of the umpire, to prevent their producing any new voucher 
or argument in their own behalf 

''13th. They pretend to ground their decisions on the laws of 
Mexico, against both the letter and the spirit of the Convention. 

'' 14th. They have arbitrarily given to their two votes a decisive 
preponderance over the two votes of their American colleagues, in 
all questions prejudicial to the claimants," &c., &c., &c. ( * ) 

This exposition, and the accompanying documents, were for- 
warded to the Secretary of State, with a note under the same date 
of July 12th, in which I respectfully requested him to "submit the 
whole to the President, at his earliest convenience." The whole 
was also published in a pamphlet form, and printed copies were 
profusely distributed in this city and elsewhere. No refutation, no 
criticism, not the least sign of disapprobation has been hitherto heard 

of. Is not such a silence, in my case, the best of vouchers 

for its exactness? 

It was not now a question of individual recourses in private 
matters. A scandalous breach of a public treaty had been pre- 
sented to the American people and to the world, in the city of Wash- 
ington. The affair was wholly %«.^io/iaZ; and every body knows 
that all violations of public faith, all infractions of public treaties 
between nations, are, when unnoticed, a sort of wounds to national 



155 

HONOR, either incurable and leading to an unavoidable loss of 
national independence, or productive of deforming indelible scars 
on the social body, whose consequences, fatal both to the interests 
of its members and the happiness of the community, are incalcu- 
lable 

My exposition to the President, forvirarded to the Secretary of 
State on the 12th of July, that is, scarcely three days after the Pre- 
sident had transmitted to the Senate the report of the American 
Commissioners, abovementioned, could and ought, in my humble 
opinion, conveniently be sent to that legislative body, to operate 
amongst the other documents referred by the Senate, on the 10th of 
the same month, to its Committee of Foreign Affairs, in regard to 
the board. But I never knew whether it was, or not, laid before 
the President. The only thing I know is that, on the 26th of Au- 
gust, or in other words, after forty-four days of meditation, the hon- 
orable Secretary of State honored me with a note, dated the 24th, in 
which the name of the President was not mentioned at all, and an 
answer was returned which had nothing in common with my ex- 
position. From this positive fact, I ought, as I did, obviously infer 
that my exposition had neither been presented to the President, nor 
read by the Secretary of State himself. I respectfully abstain here 
from all comment on this kind of business. I have, however, to 
transcribe here a memorial which I felt compelled to address to the 
President in person, on the subject : 

"To THE President of the United States: 

" Sir : Under date of the 12th ultimo, I enclosed to the honorable 
Secretary of State a representation, with twenty-three documents, 
praying him to lay it before you. It contained several charges 
against the Mexican members of the Board of Commissioners under 
the Convention of the 11th April, 1839, for breach of said Conven- 
tion. 

''With a second note of the I2th instant, and a third of the 
19th, 1 entreated the honorable Secretary to make me acquainted 
with your superior resolutions on the subject, and I have received 
from him yesterday, the 26th, a note dated the 24th, in his oton 
name., without any indication of my representation having ever been 
submitted to your consideration, as I had humbly petitioned; and 
from whose tenor, I am sorry to state, I inferred that, owing per- 
haps to the multiplicity and importance of the affairs of the day, it 
had not been Avell perused by himself His note is thus conceived: 
* The Executive of the United States has no right to interfere for 
the redress of the grievances of the citizens who may suppose them- 
selves lo be aggrieved by the decisions of the Commissioners under 
the Convention with the Mexican Republic. That body is in effect 
a judicial body, and it belongs to its members alone to determine on 
the rights of claimants under the Convention.' 

"1 must now, sir, take the liberty to coine again before you, 



156 

earnestly and submissively soliciting your official attention on the 
subject. 

" I never solicited the interference of the Executive for the redress 
of any of my complaints against the Commissioners under the Con- 
vention with Mexico, nor ha.d I ever pretended to have my rights, 
as a claimant, determined upon by the Executive. Printed copies 
of my representation were sent to the board, as well as to the Com- 
mittees of Foreign Affairs of both Houses of Congress, and to the 
members of your cabinet, of the diplomatic body, of the Supreme 
Court of justice, &c., and no person, I trust, will adopt the interpre- 
tation given it by the honorable Secretary of State. I had the honor 
of exposing to you my grievaiices to draw from them conclusions 
of a very different nature from that which that functionary sup- 
poses : 

" First, by demonstrating that the Convention is anti-national, 
anti-constitutional, and absurd in all its provisions, I proved its entire 
nullity ; but, aware that this nullity could not be taken notice of 
after the Convention having been already executed, both with the 
express consent of our Government, and the tacit acquiescence of 
our claimants, I abstained from grounding on it any action on my 
part. 

''And then, by preferring fourteen charges, others reserved, 
against the Mexican members of the board, I demonstrated that the 
Convention, null or valid, had been wholly and openly violated, 
both by them and their Government, under whose instructions they 
act, not as supposed members of a judicial body, but as avowed 
members of a flenipotentiary diplomatic legation. 

''My charges, sir, against the Mexican Commissioners, are of 
such an explicit nature, that either I must be punished as a calum- 
niator, or the Convention with Mexico is to be declared broken by 
the Mexican Commissioners and their Government. In the first 
case, I demand to be brought before a criminal court to answer the 
charge. In the second, I respectfully insist, less as a claimant than 
as a citizen of the United States, jealous of our national honor, on the 
ANNIHILATION 01 the Convention, and the cessation of the board 
from acting under it. 

" Have, sir, the United States a tribunal to judge of infractions of 
public treaties by foreign powers? I had abstained from moving 
this question in my first representation to you, thinking that the sup- 
position alone, of the non-existence of such a tribunal, would prove 
highly offensive to our enlightened and well-governed nation. Is 
this tribunal to be found within the executive, legislative, or judicial 
attributes? I had likewise refrained respectfully from discussing 
this point, leaving the decision to your wisdom, and limiting myself 
to quoting such provisions of our Constitution as might, in my opi- 
nion, indicate the course to be pursued in the case, especially those 
contained in the art. iii. sec. ii, §i, and the art. vi, miscell. ii, §2. 

"As to the hoard, sir, considered as a judicial body^ it belongs cer- 



157 

tainly to its members to determine on the rights of claimants under 
the Convention, as the honorable Secretary of State very wisely 
observes; but it cannot be its ovs^n judge on any charge legally pre- 
ferred against it, as infractor of a public treaty, of the very treaty of 
which it is the creation. 

" This distinction of ideas, which will be found, I hope, not un- 
worthy of your highminded attention, leads me to implore your 
orders for the transmission of the aforesaid representation, and 
accompanying documents, to the competent authority, if yours be 
not, in order that : 

" 1st. The Convention might, as it justly should, be declared vio- 
lated, broken and annulled by the Mexican Government and the 
Commissioners acting under its instructions. 

'' 2dly. On the board ceasing from its functions, all claims not yet 
decided upon by it, be examined and adjusted by an ordinary or spe- 
cial court of justice of the United States. 

" 3dly. And the amount, both of the awards already made by the 
board or the umpire, and of those to be made, if any, by an Ameri- 
can court, be executively demanded from the Republic of Mexico, 
without any further delay or negotiations, nor reference whatever to 
any of the provisions of said infringed Convention. 

" Deign, sir, to accept the assurance of the profound respect, with 
which I have the honor to be, your most obedient servant, 

"Orazio de Attelus Santangelo. 

"Washington, August 27, 1841." ( * ) 

This memorial was handed, in the morning of the same day, 27th 
of August, 1841, to the son of President John Tyler, in presence of 

his venerable father From that day up to this moment I 

have not been happy enough to receive an answer to it, nor even 
the acknowledgment of its receipt. Is this a display of Republican 

grandeur? But, the only object of this publication being 

to show the true motives, the undeniable uprightness and the exact 
importance of my claims on Mexico, I must, for the present, go no 
farther. 



APPOINTMENT OF AN ATTORNEY. 

Surrounded by mystery, intrigue, oppression, despotism, contrarieties, con, 
tradictions, absurdities and follies of every description, and personally disre- 
garded by our own Government, only on account of my sufferings from 
Mexico being the effect of my defending there the honor and interest of tho 
United States, I feel now in danger of losing my compass, and, in addition 
to my misfortunes, of becoming perhaps insane. 

A board, or tribunal, as it is called by our Executive, composed of two 
Mexican and two American members, is instituted by a pot-pourri called 
Convention, to adjust American claims, or to refer them, in case of non- 
agroement, to a third party called arbitrator So far, let it pass. 



158 

But the Mexicans say : the board is not a tribunal; we are not judges ; the 
claimants are not parties, and have therefore no right to appear in person 
or through agents before us, nor to correspond directly with us, our mission 
being merely diplomatic, and the only litigant parties being the Government 
of tlie United States itself, and our own ! 

The Government of the United States swears that it has nothing to do at 
all either with the claims, the claimants, or the board, its functions being but 
those of a conduit, receiving papers from the claimants, and transmitting 
them to that tribunal ; no matter if an act of Congress has solemnly admitted 
a direct correspondence between the claimants and the board ! 

The American Commissioners firmly declare that they are true judges, 
and the claimants true parties, with full right to support their actions per- 
sonally or through attorneys before the board, and to correspond directly with 
it but, embracing at the same time, par complaisance, the princi- 
ples of the Mexicans, they assent so far to all their pretensions as to acknow- 
ledge formally, in all votations, the nullity of their own yeas in presence of 
the Mexican nays .' 

The claimants in despair, apply to the board, and " Go," they are told ; " you 
have nothing in common with us ; your Government alone is the complainant 
here." They apply to their Government; and " Go," is the answer ; " the Exe- 
cutive cannot in the least interfere between the board and you." They apply 

to lawyers for advice and " Patience," is the advice ; An nescis longas 

regibus esse rnanus ? " 

Not educated at the school of Saint Francis, I have publicly denounced 
to the President of the United States both the Mexican Government and its 
Commissioners, as violators of our Convention with it ; but the silence of 
the President evidently insinuates that the duty of executing the laws does 
not devolve on him, or that public treaties are not, in his opinion, laws of the 
land Thus, farewell to the Constitution of the United States! 

The VIOLATION OF A Public Treaty being now looked upon as a matter of 
course, a nullity as an obligation, an absurdity as an axiom, a denial of jus. 
lice as a blessing, a personal hostility as a judicial duty, an abuse of power 
as an heroism, a disregard as chivalric courtesy, a foreign insolence as a title 
to our friendship, a spoliation as a boon, the right of citizenship as a crime, 
a truth as an affront ; and our hitherto sublime institutions, our laws, inde- 
pendence, sovereignty, national dignity, &c., being but a Mexican sport ; 
and our lawgivers and lawyers, politicians and justices, speakers and writers, 
&c., nothing but petrified beings at the sight of the head of a Mexican Me- 
dusa ; — I must abandon the fate of my claims to Providence, and trust the 
POSSIBLE defence of my rights to a benevolent counsel, duly empowered either 
to prosecute my legal action for the annihilation of the broken Convention, 
or lay most respectfully my claims before its very violators, under a pro- 
test against our own Government, the true, lawful, responsible authority for 
all redress due to the citizen of the country, wronged by a foreign power. 

Washington, D. C, October 22d, 1841. 



DOCUMENTS 



QUOTED IN THE 



STATEMENT OF FACTS, 



READY FOR PRESENTATION. 



Sates. 



Description. 



10 



1824, 



May 21, 
June 29, 



» Oct. 6, 



1825, 
1826, 



Mar. 1, 
Dec. 26, 
Feb. 14, 
Feb. 15, 
Feb. 16, 
Feb. 18, 
Apl. 8,-] 
Apl.29, 
May 6, 
July 1, 
July 5, 
May 6, 
June 2, 
June 8, 
June 26, 
June 30, 
June 29, 
July 1, 



18 


•' July 


4, 


19 


" July 


4, 


20 


" July 


5, 


21 


'« July 


4, 


22 


» July 


6, 


23 


" July 


7, 


24 


«' July 


7, 


U5 


" July 


B, 



Certificate of oath before the Marine Court of N. Y. 
Count Survilliers to Leroy, Bayard & Co. 
Extract from the " Atlantic Magazine." 

Do. " New-York American." 

Do. "New- York Statesman." 

Certificate of Leroy, Bayard & Co. 
Chev. Rivafinoli to the English Minister Ward. 
Certificate of Colonel Menocal. 

Do. General Pignatelli Cerchiara. 

Do. General V. Filisola. 

Permission to carry arms, pistols. 



Extracts from " El Iris." 



Decree of the Congress of Mexico. 
Extract from " El Mercuric." 
General Santa Anna to Santangelo. 
Invitation from J. R. Poinsett. 
Count A. Cornaro to Santangelo. 
Extract from the work on the " Congress of Panama." 
Extract from the "Gazette of the Supreme Govern- 
ment." 
Do. do. do. do. 

Santangelo to the President of Mexico. 
Extract from the " Sun"' of Mexico. 
Certificate of Chev. V. de Rivafinoli. 
Verdict of the Jury of the Press. 
Gov. F. Molinos to Santangelo. 
Santangelo to the President of Mexico. 
Extract from " El Iris" of Mexico. 



160 



26 


1826, July 8, 


27 


" July 9, 


28 


" July 10, 


29 


" July 10, 


30 


" July 11, 


31 


" July 11, 


32 


" July 11, 


33 


" July 11, 


34 


« July 13, 


35 


" July 18, 


36 


» July 19, 


37 


" July 19, 


38 


" July 20, 


39 


" July 21, 


40 


» July 24, 


41 


" July 26, 


42 


" July 29, 


43 


" July 31, 


44 


" Aug. 1, 


45 


" Aug. 5, 


46 


" Aug. 16, 


47 


" Aug. 18, 


48 


" Aug. 19, 


49 


» Aug. 28, 


50 


" Nov. 11, 


51 


" Dec. 3, 


52 


" Dec. 9, 


53 


" Dec. 20, 


54 


1827, Feb. 25, 


55 


«' April 4, 


56 


« April 20, 


57 


" May 20, 


58 


" May 26, 


59 


" July 25, 


60 


" Aug. 19, 


61 


» Sept. 28, 


62 


1828, July 25, 


63 


" July 28, 


64 


" Aug. 1, 


65 


" Aug. 15, 


66 


" Aug. 15, 


67 


» Aug. 20, 


68 


" Sept. 18, 


69 


" Sept. 23, 


70 


" Oct. 15, 


71 


" Nov. 29, 


72 


1829, April 20, 


73 


" May 28, 


74 


" July 12, 


75 


" Oct. 3, 


76 


" Oct. 21, 


77 


" Dec. 15, 


78 


1830, Jan. 1, 



Description. 

Passport signed by " Camacho." 
Gov. Molinos to Santangclo. 
Verdict of the Jury of the Press. 

Minister of Guatemala, Mayorga, to Sec. of State, Sosa. 
Gov. Molinos to Santangelo. 
Santangelo's receipt for one hundred dollars. 
Gov. Molinos to Santangelo. 
Permission to carry arms on the transit. 
Extract from the " Sun" of Mexico. 
Do. do. do. 

Do. do. do. 

Santangelo to President Victoria. 
Report of the Committee of Infractions. 
Santangelo to President Victoria. 
Governor of Puebla, Calderon, to Lieut. J. J. Cabrera. 
Passport from the Minister of Guatemala, Mayorga. 
Senator Alpuche to Santangelo. 

Examen of the faculties of the Government of Mexico, 
on the banishment of foreigners, by Senator Canedo, 
Extract from " El Orients," of Jalapa. 
Certificate of Herrera. 
Commodore D. Porter to Mrs. Porter. 
Permission to embark at Vera Cruz. 
Santangelo's farewell to the Mexicans. 
Certificate of the death of Francis de A. Santangelo. 
Extract from the " National Gazette," of Philadelphia. 

Do, a work by John Jordan. 

Do. the "Mercurio," of Vera Cruz. 

Senator Zavala to Santangelo. 
Santangelo to Zavala. 

Exti-act from the " Democratic Press," of Philadelphia. 
Senator Zavala to Santangelo. 
Santangelo to Zavala. 

Do. do. 

Zavala to Santangelo. 
Santangelo to General V. Guerrero. 
General Guerrero to Santangelo. 
Santangelo to the President General, G. Victoria. 
J. M. Montoya to Santangelo. 
Santangelo to Gomez Pedraza. 

Do. the Minister of War, Pedraza. 

Consul of the U. S. in Naples, Alexander Hammet, 

to Santangelo. 
Rogers, Brother & Co., of Naples, to Santangelo. 
Minister of War to Santangelo. 

Do. do. do. 

Santangelo to J. J. Esteva. 
J. J. Esteva to Santangelo. 
Lorenzo de Zavala to Santangelo. 
Certificate of naturalization fi-om Marine Court of N.Y. 
Domingo J. Hernandez to Santangelo. 
J. J. Esteva to Santangelo. 
General Santa Anna to Santangelo, 
Luigi Griggi to Santangelo. 
Santangelo to President Guerrero. 



161 



Nos. 


Dates. 


Description. 


79 


1830 


, Feb, 3, 


Secretary of State, Alaman to Santangelo. 


80 


" 


Mar. 10, 


Santangelo to Lucas Alaman. 


81 


" 


Mar. 14, 


T. Canas to Santangelo. 


82 


" 


April 5, 


Gen. J. J. Basadre to Santangelo. 


83 


" 


June 9, 


Extract from the " Daily Advertiser," of New-York, 


84 


" 


Sept. 16, 


Invitation from Senator Zavala and Colonel Mexia. 


85 


1831 


> 


Extract from L. de Zavala's work on Mexico. 


86 


« 


April 9, 


Gen. Santa Anna to Santangelo. 


87 


li 


May 14, 


Gen. Basadre to Santangelo. 


88 


a 


July 20, 


Gen. Mexia to Santangelo. 


89 


" 


Oct. 11, 


Gen. Santa Anna to Santangelo. 


90 


1832 


, Feb. 22, 


Decree of the Congress of Mexico in defiance of the 
treaty of the 5th of April, 1831. 


91 




Mar. 23, 


Gen. Santa Anna to Santangelo. 


92 




Oct. 4, 


Gov. Zavala to Santangelo. 


93 




Oct. 25, 


Manuel G. Pedraza to Santangelo. 


94 


1833 


, Mar. 25, 


President Santa Anna to Santangelo. 


95 




Mar. 29, 


Extract from " El Censor," of Vera Cruz. 


96 




April 13, 


President Santa Anna to Santangelo. 


97 




April 16, 


Gov. Zavala to Santangelo. 


98 




April 26, 


Political chief De Muiioz y Mufioz to Santangelo. 


99 




May 6, 


Bill of Lading, signed "Joaquin Acosta." 


100 




May 18, 


Doctor Doucet to Santangelo. 


101 




May 22, 


Thomas Savage to Santangelo. 


102 




June 13, 


Jos6 Ma. Perez to General Mexia. 


103 




June 


Prospectus of the " Lyceum Azteque." 


104 




July 15, 


Secretary of State, Garcia, to Santangelo. 


105 




July 17, 


Santangelo to the Minister of Finances, Bocanegra. 


106 




Aug. 20, 


Commissary General of Mexico to Santangelo. 


107 




Sept. 7, 


License to open a course of political economy. 


108 




Oct. 2, 


License for Mrs. Santangelo to open a school for ladies. 


109 


1834 


, May 25, 


Extract from a Supplement to tlae "Telegraph." 


110 


1835 


, Jan. 5, 


Juan Jose del Corral to Santangelo. 


111 


(( 


April 22, 


Extract from " El Censor," of Vera Cruz. 


112 


» 


May 7, 


The Editors of the " Oliva" to Santangelo. 


113 


(( 


May 21, 


The Editors of the "Mercuric" to Santangelo. 


114 


(( 


May 31, 


Mr. Antonio Valdes y Moya to Santangelo. 




r- 


June 13, 


Extract from the " Correo Atlantico." 


115 


June 17, 


Do. do. 


116 


(( 


June 13, 


Do. do. 


117 


« 


June 24, 


Do. do. 


118 


^^ 


June 24, 


Gov. Ramon Rayon to Santangelo, sent on the 25tli. 


119 


i( 


June 24, 


Passport by the acting Secretary of State, Monasterio, 
given on the 25th. 


120 


1" 


June 25, 


Santangelo to President Santa Anna. 


June 25, 


Santangelo to the Minister of Foreign Relations. 


121 


(( 


June 26, 


Santangelo to Wm. S. Parrott, Consul of the U. S. 


122 


(( 


July 3, 


Instrument of Protest before the U. S. Consul. 


123 


(( 


July 3, 


Sworn estimate of damages, by C. Abadie, A. Leggett 
and Y. Reed, with a detailed certificate of Mr.Leggett, 


124 


(( 


July 3, 


Aaron Leggett to Santangelo. 


125 


" 


July 3, 


Passport from Wm. S. Parrott, U. S. Consul. 


126 


f" 


July 6, 


Santangelo to Parrott. 


July 6, 


Parrott to Santangelo. 


127 


C( 


July 7, 


Col. S. F. Austin to H. Meigs, & Co. 



21 



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